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. 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

So only needed for the F3Y Course!! Not for workshops or separate modules. When we start a new F3Y Course in sept ’24 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 discussing photography. A great opportunity to talk about your own projects in a relaxed atmosphere. Once per month students come to school to do research in our extended library, 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 some food and a good glass of wine. Aka ‘Food & Foto’.

DARKROOM
LOUNGE

When you want to join our Darkroom Lounge you need to have a bit of experience with analogue printing. Also you need to bring your own analogue B&W negatives to the Lounge. We provide the paper, chemicals, [13x18cm] enlargers, trays & tongs. The membership is for one evening and the size per evening is max. 2 people. So there is enough personal attention to make good analogue prints that will shine on your wall! Our 3 hour training costs 150 euro per person. See you!

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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. We can NOT provide you with a permit! Contact us if you wonder if you are one of these countries, or check it HERE.

CRKBO
ACKNOWLEDGED

the FOTOfactory is acknowledged by the CRKBO. This institute is a proxy for the Dutch government, and supervises our education and organisation level. Their approval is a must for every school. Because we are acknowledged by the CRKBO, and approved as high level education,  also all our courses are free of VAT (0%). We also have interns that are located at our school by the European Erasmus program. We can not provide you with a student visa.

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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’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