The Personal Vision & Portfolio Intensive is a bundle of three Open Education courses providing a nurturing environment where intermediate and advanced photographers can confidently explore experimentation and self-expression. The program is flexible, allowing students to complete it entirely online, onsite, or through a mix of both formats.
Participants sharpen their expertise through an advanced photography curriculum, refining their creative approaches while crafting a compelling, cohesive portfolio. Students engage deeply with personal themes, seamlessly integrating cultural and historical contexts into both realistic and abstract techniques. Presentations, interactive activities, and thought-provoking readings fuel innovation and spark creative inspiration. Through assignments and weekly critiques, participants are guided in developing a unified project, fine-tuning their artistic practice, and cultivating a distinctive body of work that fully embodies their photographic vision.
Topics of study include:
- Intuitive approaches to image-making
- Visual language as a tool for expressing ideas
- Aesthetics and visual metaphors with opportunity for abstract photography techniques
- Image selection and sequencing
- Fine art printing and art-book making
Expected Outcomes:
- Identify your artistic interests and concepts
- Cultivate your creative process in a supportive environment
- Create meaningful personal work for building a photography portfolio
Special Benefits:
- Official ICP digital certificate (see requirements below)
- $150 total savings after completing all intermediate and advanced photography courses
- Exclusive early registration period before each term
- ICP One Year Certificates’ application fees waived
Framework & Courses
This Intensive in personal vision photography includes two stages. Stage I intermediate and advanced photography classes offer an environment of experimentation and discovery of one’s artistic interests and sensitivities. Stage II courses allow students to explore and develop important practices while working on their own personal series in advanced photography.
Stage I - Introduction Courses
(successfully complete one of the following intermediate or advanced photography courses):
- The Photographic Mind Map (online)
- What Matters (onsite or online)
STAGE II – Below is a sample of Stage II Personal Vision & Portfolio courses, click the link to see all current courses
(successfully complete two Stage II courses):
- Mining Your Photographic Archives: Building a New Body of Work (online)
- Vision Beyond the Lens
- Faces, Masks and Narrative: Contemporary Self-Portraiture (online)
- The Conceptual Landscape and Architecture Portfolio (online)
- The Tempos and Tones of Editing and Sequencing: A Primer for Intermediate and Advanced Students (Online)
- Advancing Your Personal Project (Online)
- STORYTELLING: Selecting, Sorting and Sequencing Your Pictures for a Book (Online)
- Alternative Processes: Non-Silver Printing
- Fine Art Digital Printing I
- Large Format Photography: An introduction to the Technical and Practical
- Crafting the Queer Erotic Image
- From Inspiration to Innovation
- Urban Photography - Finding Your Point of View
- From Intent to Edit: Establishing a Relationship With Your Work
Most courses range between 5–10 meetings. Click on ‘Register for Upcoming Courses’ for a list of next available classes including dates, course descriptions, faculty, and tuition (fees are presented before discount).
Important Notes
- All courses need to be completed within a period of 1-year from the date of registration (excluding approved past courses)
- A selection of classes will be available for registration at each stage of the program, but ICP may choose not to run all courses each term.
- Courses should be taken in order according to the program’s structure.
- Completion of more than one course in Stage I does not credit other stages.
- Retroactive registration to this certificate program is also allowed after completing one of the courses in Stage I or Stage II.
Prerequisites
The Personal Vision & Portfolio Intensive is an intermediate-advanced photography program featuring an advanced course syllabus: You are comfortable using your camera, whether film or digital, and with your photographic practice. You have experience using Adobe applications such as Lightroom or Photoshop with abstract photography techniques. You may want to understand how to utilize your camera in a more thoughtful and articulate way, practice creative methodologies, or learn how to utilize theoretical concepts in relation to your photography portfolio and self-expression in photography. Students must meet the prerequisites of each course they register for as part of the program.
Tuition
Enrollment to the Personal Vision & Portfolio Intensive is open throughout the year. Once enrolled, students may select their preferred intermediate or advanced photography courses (see ‘Register for Upcoming Courses’ above). Use the ‘Enroll in Intensive’ button below to submit your online application form (no preparations are needed).
Depending on students’ intermediate and advanced photography class selection, the total tuition can range between $1285–2345 and includes:
• A non-refundable registration fee of $300
• The discounted fees of the selected and studied courses. Courses’ fees range between $430–860 and enrolled students receive $200 discounts on each of their courses (total discount of $450).
Certification
Students must pass all required photography courses before receiving ICP certification. All courses for personal vision photography and portfolio must be completed within a period of 1-year from the date of registration (excluding approved past courses). Additionally, to receive their certificate, students need to present an edited and sequenced selection of 10-20 pictures from their personal project. Once a student completes the requirements, a request for the certificate should be submitted using the button below.
Contact
[email protected]
212.857.0001