PROFESSIONAL Biennial Photography Course

Goals and admissions

The Professional Biennial Photography Course organized by Istituto Italiano di Fotografia aims at training professional photographers from scratch, providing them with a deep knowledge of photographic techniques, languages and genres.

Since the course starts from the basics, it is not necessary to have previous experience in photography to enroll. However, it is recommended to have a a reflex/mirrorless digital camera: you will start using it in the first weeks of the course, even though in the first semester you will mainly shoot with view cameras. Therefore, there is not an admission test and applications are open until full capacity is reached.

All classes are taught in Italian, therefore we request a certificate of Italian (level B2 or higher). We accept the following certificates: CILS (CILS 2 or higher); CELI (CELI level 3 or higher); PLIDA (PLIDA B2 or higher); AIL/DILI (AIL/DILI B2 or higher). If you don’t have a certificate, you can take an online evaluation test with our partner school for a small fee.

Students can skip the first year of our Biennial Photography Course and move up to the second by sending us a portfolio with studio and outdoor portraits, and landscape and still life photographs. IIF faculty will judge the quality of the photographs and the students’ photographic techniques and visual communication skills.

Course program

The teaching approach used at IIF stands out because it’s complete, practical and professional. In this course you’ll study all the main photography genres, from portrait to still life, from fashion to nude, from reportage to landscape. In addition, you’ll delve into modern shooting techniques, editing, videomaking and planning.

During both years you will study the history and criticism of photography. Moreover, you will have postproduction classes involving the use of Lightroom and Photoshop in the first year and advanced Photoshop and Indesign classes in the second.

Commercial and artistic collaborations

In the second year you will also have meetings with professionals from the commercial sector, such as lawyers, accountants, agents etc. They will help you prepare for the photography market and teach you how to introduce yourself professionally. In their second year, students will have the chance to take part in exhibitions, photo books, photography festivals, commercial projects for clients working in several sectors (fashion, food, design, music, events), experiencing the working environment from the beginning. At the end of the course, not only will students’ portfolios cover all the main photography genres, but they’ll also include photos commissioned by our clients and taken at real events.

Job placement

Istituto Italiano di Fotografia has several business partners, so that its students and former students have the chance to work with several brands, agencies and publishing houses. You can tell how well our system works by looking at our former students: they are successful professional photographers working in different sectors, from fashion to food, from events to reportage.

Course structure and schedule

Duration of the course: 2 years | 1st year, from September 30, 2024 to June 2025; 2nd year, from mid-September 2025 to July 2026.

Schedule: 1st year, from Monday to Friday, in the morning or in the afternoon (chosen by the student) | 2nd year, from Monday to Friday, in the afternoon. On Saturday you can use the studios for free to practise (upon reservation).

Tuition Fees

Cost: € 8.000 for the first year | € 9.200 for the second year.

We offer scholarships, and early bird promotions for one-off payments. You can also pay in installments or ask for a zero-interest loan.

Download the course brochure here and write to the Orientation Office to ask for the full technical file of the course: [email protected]

Orientation interview

Call us to receive more information: 02 58105598/7623/7139, or write to  [email protected] and book an orientation interview with the Orientation Office.

Do you have any questions? Have a look at our FAQs, you’ll find a lot of useful information!

The course is enriched by several visiting professors, who we change every year in order to provide our students with fresh perspectives on the professional photography world. Among the many professionals that we had at IIF:

• Giulia Bersani
• Carlotta Cardana
• Tomaso Clavarino
• Pietro Cocco
• Alessandro De Alberto
• Dude Agency
• Looking for Art
• Alessandro Merlo
• Carmen Mitrotta
• Benedetta Ristori
• Luca Santese
• Federica Sasso