St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University was founded in 1899 and has 21 faculties, 150 departments, and scientific laboratories. The Department of Information Technologies in Design offers a photography course that emphasizes how photography can be applied to the design process. The course includes technical aspects as well as editing, publishing, and professional studio photography. Students independently explore the city during outdoor workshops and the course culminates in an exposition of student works on one of the course topics.