Photography Program - Harvard University

Teen Photography Summer Camps

At a time when anyone with a smartphone can be called a “photographer,” the Academy’s photography camps are focused on shaping the next generation of photographers to not simply be “good,” but to become truly extraordinary in an increasingly crowded field.

Students in the photography summer camps work with a network of professional photographers, industry professionals, and their fellow classmates to obtain new ways of looking at the same image while learning a wide variety of technical and artistic approaches.

Shoot in Exciting Locales this Summer

From the first day of the camp, students will be behind the camera, learning the craft of photography through a combination of in-class instruction, faculty-supervised workshops, and individual course assignments. Over the course of the camp, students will become familiar with and learn how to shoot in the many genres of photography, including Fine Art Photography, Photojournalism, Commercial Photography, and much more.

The main goal of the camp is to train students to shoot and film images at a professional level. This means that students learn how to execute an assignment quickly and effectively, developing their own style of seeing and shooting the world that makes each image they take instantly recognizable as their own. To help them develop their own original voice, students study under our faculty of professional photographers who remain active in the field, shooting in the many different genres of photography.

Overview

The photography summer camps at the academy prepare emerging photographers for a future in the field and trains them to shoot photography at a professional level, providing them with a fun and challenging environment in which to grow as artists.

All Photography Summer Camp students are required to bring with them to camp a digital camera with manual exposure control.

Location:

HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Harvard University, founded sixteen years after the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock, celebrated its 350th anniversary in 1986. Eight presidents of the United States—including John Quincy Adams, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and John Fitzgerald Kennedy—graduated from Harvard. Its faculty has produced more than 30 Pulitzer Prize winners and 30 Nobel Laureates.

The Academy Summer Camps are held in Memorial Hall and Lowell Hall, a Ruskinian Gothic memorial to Harvard’s Union casualties from the Civil War, built in 1878. This majestic structure is conveniently located close to Harvard Square’s historical, commercial, and academic resources.

Gain Hands-On Experience in the Visual and Performing Arts

Offered each summer at Harvard University, the Academy offers its acclaimed summer camps in filmmaking, acting for film, and 3D animation. Harvard is a prestigious Ivy League university, perhaps the most famous learning institution in the world. Harvard is located in the charming, dynamic city of Cambridge, just minutes away from Boston, the “capital” of New England. The University’s roots in Cambridge are widespread, charging the city with a unique and intellectually invigorating atmosphere. In this environment, summer camp students are challenged to achieve their potential at the highest level.

CAMBRIDGE AND BOSTON

Cambridge and Boston, two of the oldest cities in the United States, offer innumerable locations and sites to film, be inspired by in their animation, and to use as locations for acting in student films. Situated north of Boston, Cambridge is a hi-tech and cultured city that has served as an attraction for artists and scholars for centuries. Whether it’s capturing the iconic image of the Harvard Crew rowing down the Charles River or visiting where Paul Revere took his famous horse ride, Cambridge is simply teeming with American history and culture, creating a truly rich environment for students.

In addition to exploring Cambridge, students also make frequent trips into Boston, a twenty-minute train ride away.

SUPERVISION

The Academy students living on campus will reside in Claverly Hall, part of the Adam’s House dormitory complex. The dining hall and classes are located in Memorial Hall. Adams House has often been called “Harvard’s most historic House.” Its former residents include Franklin Roosevelt, Buckminster Fuller, William Burroughs, William Randolph Hearst, Jr., Henry Kissinger, Bernard Law, Martin Feldstein, and William Weld. John Kennedy met with his senior thesis adviser in the Coolidge Room. Aaron Copland lived in the House as a guest. More recently, Fred Gwynne, Peter Sellars, John Lithgow, and Donal Logue have lived in Adams and added to its reputation as a haven for the performing arts. The dormitory is a 10-minute walk from campus and students may walk at their leisure without a counselor from the dormitories to Memorial Hall.

Students spend the majority of their day in class, on shoots on campus with their instructors or teaching assistants, and/or working in professional labs with industry standard software. Following class, when time allows students have the ability to roam freely on campus and patronize establishments in Harvard Square and the surrounding urban environment. Students must inform their counselor of their destinations in Harvard Square and they must adhere to our Buddy System—no student is allowed to roam alone. Although students may explore the Square they must stay within a certain radius of Harvard Campus proper. That radius is clearly outlined at the onset of the program. If any parent requires that their child not be permitted to explore Harvard Square without a counselor, please contact the Film Academy and we will make the necessary arrangements.Weekend activities are mandatory for housed students and include daylong trips. Counselors attend and supervise these outings. Additional activities take place nearly every weeknight and on Sundays as well, and these are optional. In case of medical emergency, students are taken to Cambridge or Auburn Hospital. We require that all students submit their medical insurance information prior to the workshop.

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

Although the camp’s daily schedule is demanding, non-commuting students will take part in organized activities in and around the Harvard campus. Cambridge is a vibrant college town with dozens of restaurants, cafés, bookstores, ice cream shops, and pizza parlors encircling the university. One can find almost anything in the city, from independent record and comic book stores to clothing boutiques. A number of world-class museums are in the area, including the Gardner Museum and the Harvard University Art Museums. Theatrical productions are held in Cambridge throughout the summer, for example, at the famed American Repertory Theatre (A.R.T.). Students enjoy excursions to the many cultural offerings of Boston, located a short twenty-minute train ride away.

ACCOMMODATION

Due to safety concerns surrounding COVID-19, the academy will be unable to offer housing for in-person camps. Families will need to secure their own housing for campers and provide any necessary off-campus supervision, if traveling to the academy summer camp from another city, state or country.

What is Included

Tuition costs include classes, instruction, equipment and technology. End of course Certificate. Three meals per day.Shared suite room.