ABOUT
SVA’s BFA Photography & Video Department in the heart of New York City is at the epicenter of culture, art, commerce, fashion, activism and history. Our unbeatable position and renowned faculty of over 80 professionals immediately connect our students to a remarkable network. Our alumni go on to work successfully in all creative fields and tend to hire our recent graduates because of a shared language and impressive track record.
- Joseph Maida, Chair BFA Photography and Video
FACILITIES
Equipment Hub
The BFA Photography & Video Hub has a wide range of equipment available to students for on and off-campus use. The Hub prides itself on providing students with cutting-edge technology, such as the Fuji GFX100 Mirrorless Digital Medium Format Camera, and traditional cameras like K.B. Canham 8x10 Folding Wooden View Camera. Studio and portable lighting, DSLRs, dedicated video cameras, audio recording devices, and analog 35mm, medium format, and large format cameras are all part of our arsenal. Students have the opportunity to create using technologies that span the history of our mediums. Download our full equipment catalog here.
B&W darkrooms
Our facilities have several analog making spaces including one large gang darkroom with 21 Omega D5XL enlargers. Each has a condenser capable of enlarging up to 4×5 inch negatives. Our smaller darkroom is equipped with an 8×10 dichroic enlarger, two 4×5 dichroic enlargers, and three Omega D5XL enlargers. Nested between the two darkrooms is a black and white film processing area with chemistry, a film loading chamber, roll film washers, film drying units, and a high-volume print washer. The photofinishing area is equipped with two dry-mount presses, a cold press station, and a roto-trim. Our Alternative Process lab is equipped with chemistry for numerous traditional photographic processes, a tray film processing area, and four UV exposure units.
digital labs
The BFA Photography and Video digital facilities have 6 computer labs each outfitted with 21 Mac Pro computers with Eizo color-calibrated monitors, a video editing suite with 6 iMac Pro computers, and a senior lab with 8 iMac Pro computers. We have a wide range of Epson and Canon printers, including 5 Epson P10000’s that print up to 44 inches wide. We also have high-end film scanners throughout the labs and a dedicated Imacon scanning room. Available equipment for check-out includes MacBook Pro laptops, Wacom tablets, iPads, projectors, and card readers. We offer the latest Adobe CC Suite apps on all our computers, and all SVA students can download the Adobe Creative Cloud suite on their home computer.
STUDIOS
The BFA Photography and Video department has nine studio spaces that are available for student use. Each studio is equipped with c-stands, chairs, apple boxes, sandbags, reflector cards and eighteen different colors of seamless paper rolls. For student’s convenience, all studios are outfitted with an assortment of Profoto lighting equipment and accessories. Additional equipment and supplies can be rented from the Hub and brought into the studios, allowing students to create dynamic studio setups on a professional scale.
classrooms
All of our classrooms are "smart" rooms with a laptop and an apple TV, a projector, white-boards, and magnetic walls for easy critiques.
GALLERIES
The BFA Photo and Video department has gallery spaces throughout the 2nd, 4th, and 5th floors, with gallery lighting. The galleries exist to give students an opportunity to share, and thus develop, their work. They also allow students to experience the process of curating, installing and exhibiting work.
