Photography Facilities

Develop your lens on the world, finding a flow between analog and digital processes. You’ll make and show photographs in the storied RayKo Photo Center, which has long been a home for photography in the Bay Area.

Media Gallery

Various students review small cyanotypes on a white table; a large-scale one hangs behind them on a wall.
Students working at computers
Four students work at various stations in the darkroom, two at enlargers and two washing prints.
A large metal sink with signs and containers.
A student using a large scanner
An exterior view of RayKo Photo Center in downtown San Francisco.
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📷 About BFA Photography

You’ll find your focus with mentorship from renowned artists (who happen to be your faculty) and through collaborative opportunities with designers, printmakers, and others across CCA. Dialogue and critique are at the core of this close-knit community, which means you’ll learn to think critically and confidently about image-based art and exhibition-making.

Hone your photographic perspective

Photography at CCA guides students in defining and developing their creative process and voice. You’ll learn the fundamentals of the medium, such as composition, exposure, and lighting, alongside advanced skills in digital photography and editing. Beyond that, everything is open for experimentation. You could make cyanotypes on handmade Japanese paper, like Tung-Lin Tsai (BFA Photography 2022), or print imagery on fabric.

🛠️ Access high-end equipment

Our Photography program’s home is at RayKo Photo Center. Walkable and bikeable from our main campus, these facilities include a fully-equipped professional photo studio with a purpose-built darkroom, classroom, and gallery space. You’ll find industry-standard and emerging tools, such as 13-inch Wacom Cintiq tablets, high-resolution scanners, inkjet printers, digital darkrooms, and black-and-white development areas.

Digital Fine Arts Studio

The Digital Fine Arts Studio is an affordable, quality printing and scanning resource for eligible CCA students. Get hands-on experience with digital medium– and wide–format printing, as well as high-end scanning.

Media Center

Check out audio equipment, video cameras, lighting kits, DSLRs, projectors, lenses, and more from the Media Center, which offers one-week equipment checkout services to all current students, faculty, and staff. Other services include AV support and extended checkouts for campus exhibitions.

Campus Map

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