Originally posted by lesmore49 X 2. I started off my working life as a junior photo/journalist back in the 1960's. Loved photography and writing, but decided to go school, get a degree, then professional qualifications, in a field outside of photo/journalism.
As an older retired man, I now have the luxury of assessing how my life has gone. In my case, I made the right decision. I believe things worked out much better for me, than if I had remained in the publishing industry.
But I never lost my enthusiasm for photography and that became my hobby and passion rather than work. Some benefits, I've been able to photograph what I want and in all probability have done better, financially.
In the end, though it's your (OP) decision. Only you know what you want.
However it is good that you have asked others for advice. Making a well informed decision is always better than going into something blindly.
With the way things are now in the UK, unless you're going to a really good university to enter one of the real professions (medical, engineering, real science etc) you're best off doing a skilled trade.
There's a dearth of skilled tradesmen here. Even a dearth of lorry drivers. Industry "tickets" and certificates of competence are the real income winners. My post-graduate qualification is an NVQ in hazardous waste treatment and I value that way more than my degree which I got in the mid-90's.
The debt kids come out of HE now are typically around £60k! Lot of graduates asking whether "you want that as a meal", because there's no work for those with vague degrees, that market's saturated. It's been quite wicked has the HE industry. A lot of it's a complete con and I'd go so far to say it's ruining lives.
Huge debts, no real work.
When I'm away and not available to do photography for the firm (I'm a PM in large scale brownfield regeneration) they'll get a "professional" tog in they find off the internet. They don't ask if they have an MA in Photography, they just say go to [X] site at [Y] address and take photos, here's your order number and email them to the office.
Unless we're trust fund babies, we all need to generate an income as we're slaves to our own metabolism. I wouldn't want to base my future on something that may not pay regularly, if at all. That's a luxury few can afford.
---------- Post added 03-13-17 at 04:45 PM ----------
Originally posted by MadMathMind Photography differs from other professions in that you can start practicing it without having any formal training and build a body of work. A lawyer or doctor, for instance, must have a degree or be enrolled in a degree program to get any experience in that field; and the degree is 100% mandatory to obtain a license to do those jobs. Engineering, for instance, is another such field, where it's generally impossible to get a position (internship) without some formal training, as demonstration of at least the basics of the field is hard to prove any other way.
Photography is a creative art. You can have all the education on the subject you want but if you don't have the "spark" or the feel, your photos will be flat no matter how technically gifted you are. And that inspiration is something you have to work on your own and you don't need a degree to have a portfolio. I don't have a degree nor am I professional but I know several who are both; they've said no one ever asks about their degree. They just ask to see that portfolio, realizing that the job of a photographer is to take inspired photos. However he accomplishes that is not relevant just that he does.
So ask whether you need the degree as a requirement. What are you hoping to get from the program? What don't you know already? Can you work with a person and pick it up? Would one course be enough?
^^What he said.