MFA Student Profile
Monica Haller, Photography
Why did you decide to pursue an MFA?
I'm in graduate school to focus on making art - to hone my technical skills in photography and explore other, interdisciplinary ways to make art and express my ideas. I'm here to give attention to, and push further, the photography that has been a companion to my other life endeavors and interests. I am also very interested in teaching. An MFA will allow me to do that.
How did your relationship with your mentor help you
develop as an artist?
I came to MCAD with specific ideas about how I wanted to focus, both conceptually and technically, and I initially talked through those goals with my mentor, David Goldes. I soon found, however, that my expectations and goals changed because my working process has developed and evolved. David helps me let that evolution happen. He pushes questions on which I wouldn't necessarily focus, and has suggested that I chill out and just take pictures when I would have worked very hard to fit my agenda into them. Now I try to leave room for my work method to mature and evolve, and trust that it will.
What else about the program have you found valuable?
All of the MFA photography students and their mentors hold a "departmental review," as I call it, every three weeks during the semester. Each student puts work up and is critiqued by fellow students and their mentors.
As a photography student, I believe this is one of the strongest components of the program. It is incredibly valuable, not only because the students receive rich feedback from a variety of mentors and perspectives, but also because we learn a lot about how to critique by observing our mentors do it. It's fascinating to see a group of professionals bounce a critical discussion around in a room. I've learned new ways of looking at art and ways of speaking about it, and ways to draw out ideas and specific articulations from other students.