COMING TO AMSTERDAM

Amsterdam’s appeal lies in its rich cultural heritage, diverse and creative culture, commercial dynamism and high quality of life. Ultimately, the city’s strongest asset is its people: the people who live here, the people who work here, the people who study here, and the people who visit here. Amsterdam residents enjoy a good quality of life. Amsterdam is an international city of culture, with a highly diverse population from somewhere around 180 backgrounds enjoying a broad range of arts & culture.

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GROUP SIZES

Studying in small groups has proven to be the best way to educate. More individual, more related to you own personal situation. The size of our Basic Course is normally max. 4 students, the size of any other course/module max 6 students. Because of Corona it temporarily is changed into max. 2 students. Due to that you will get a lot of personal attention. Another advantage (some call it a disadvantage) is that you can not hide inside the group. Teachers will immediately notice when you don’t understand something. That prevents the occurring of knowledge gaps over a longer period of time.

WHAT KIND OF STUDENTS

Often we hear these questions: What age are your students? What country are your students from? That is the easiest question to answer, all ages, all countries, all genders, all skin tones, all everything. Because the desire to study photography is universal. For us the only thing that counts is that you are motivated, extremely motivated. Because our way of teaching will ask a lot from you. Hard work, personal growth, endurance, quality awareness are some keywords. And let’s not forget the best keyword: fun.

APPLICATION
PROCEDURE

When we start new classes or workshops we want all our students to have, more or less, the same level of knowledge. That will improve the quality and content of the lessons. It also will avoid students to feel lost or bored. Also due to our application procedure, we can make sure that we only have motivated participants.

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RENT
EQUIPMENT

Being a student at our school means that you can rent equipment that we have at our school. Often students want to rent lights, or other studio stuff, but it is also possible to rent cameras (digital, analogue, SLR of medium even view cameras). The only request we have is that you finished the modules where this equipment has been used successfully. The prices we charge you are much cheaper then a commercial company would charge you.

STUDIO LOUNGE

The Studio Lounge is also extracurricular and the place to meet if you are into studio photography. A great opportunity to work on your own projects in a relaxed atmosphere. Once per month students come to school to make portraits, try new ideas or even finish or improve the quality of assignments they earlier made. Skills are practiced and contacts are made again often combined with a good glass of wine. Temporarily closed due to Corona.

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DARKROOM
LOUNGE

The Darkroom Lounge is extracurricular and the place to meet if you are into analogue photography. A limited group of students come together once per month to print there negatives and discuss their images. Skills are practiced and contacts are made often combined with a good glass of wine. Temporarily closed due to Corona.

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INTERNATIONAL 
STUDENTS

Although we are a Dutch school we attract a lot of International students. For us that makes sense, good education, beautiful and friendly city, a lot of culture. For students from the EU it is not a problem at all to live and work in Amsterdam. Potential students from outside the EU will have to get a permit, that will allow them to stay in the Netherlands. Contact us if you wonder if you are one of these countries, or need our advice.

TAX
DEDUCTION

the FOTOfactory is acknowledged by the CRBKO instituut. Also we are accepted as a professional education by the Dutch tax authority. That means that when you pay Dutch income taxes, you have a legal right to tax deduction. The expenses made to study are seen as an investment, particularly to produce additional income in the future. Every year we offer students to assist them with this tax deduction by providing a letter with info about all the school expenses. All our education is free of VAT.

INTERVIEW

MADELEINE BOLLE

Hello…. Can you introduce yourself?  Hi! My name is Madeleine, I am 31 years old. I started doing photography seriously in 2012 when I lived in NYC. I started out with street photography, which of course NYC is great for, but it was also a great way for me to explore and experiment with my camera.
How long are you studying at Ff? I started studying at Ff in 2014, so I’m here two years now.
What do you like at the FF? Strong points? Bad points? At Ff I like that my creativity is stimulated and that I am encouraged to make the most of myself as a photographer. At school, everything is allowed (in terms of photography ;-)) and there is no right or wrong. It’s a place where you can try new or different things. And I also learn a lot from my teachers and classmates, I like having other photographers to discuss each others work with.
What kind of photographer would you like to become? I’m more like a fly on the wall type of photographer. I like to dig deeper into a person in order to discover subtleties that make the subject their own or unique. With my pictures I want to show the intimacy that I aim to reach with my subject and I hope that others can also see what makes that person interesting to me. In the future I hope to be portraying more people and do big documentary projects.
Did it change you to study photography? Definitely.
How do you see your future? I keep photographing! And hopefully I’ll become an increasingly defined photographer in time that keeps developing.
Anything you want to add? No.

title: Sammy