Université de Silésie, Opava

Biographie

Since 1990, the Creative Photography Institute is integrated to the new Silesian university of Opava - a historical city from Czech Silesia. Today, it is by far the one who receives the most amount of students amongst the seven institutions that offer higher education specialized in photography in Czech Republic, with 130 undergraduate, 40 postgraduate and 13 doctorate students. The course offered by ITF is meant to be universal. Their graduates are prepared for all photography areas. They need to master the photographic and IT techniques, know the history of photography, the arts, and know how to approach certain theoretical topics. They equally have to be capable to speak and write about photography intricately. The undergraduate and postgraduate studies are validated by a final examination containing tests about the history and theory of photography, and the defenses of a practical dossier and a thesis. The practical works made by the students are not simply destined to be stocked in the school's archives: they are showed to the public during numerous expositions organised by ITF. The educational team is composed of eight permanent professors and eight exterior contributors. The Institute's director is professor Vladimir Birgus. For now, the courses of the Creative Photography Institute are given exclusively in Czech language. However, we can find between the current students or already graduate ones stronger contingents from Slovakia and Poland, students from Germany, Japan, Italy, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Croatia. The Creative Photography Institute is also proud to support the most important, largest volume of activity and publication of all Czech schools of photography.