City College students can spend the summer in the “City of Lights” on the first-ever photography trip to Paris from June 30 to July 31.
“Paris is known for fashion and product photography,” said Linda Lowell, associate professor of photography and director of the Paris program. “It’s an international center for cutting-edge photography in those arenas.”
Students will have the experience of visiting and working in Paris. This “will be an exceptional experience” in photography, Lowell said.
For $2,650, not including airfare, students will cross the Atlantic to enjoy a four-week stay in the cosmopolitan capital of haute couture, gourmet cuisine and architectural beauty. All financial aid students automatically qualify for a $200 scholarship.
Lowell said that some kind of a liberal arts education background helps but isn’t a must. Student photographers must attend a mandatory orientation meeting, and voila! They’ll be Paris-bound.
The application deadline is Thursday, and Lowell urges students to sign up fast as seats are filling quickly.
“Linda’s remarkable background and instruction, being so well-versed in both traditional and digital forms of photography,” contributes to the program’s success, said School of Media Arts Director Guy Smith. “It’s an incredible opportunity for students to go” he said.
Liz Russotti, who co-chairs the graphic design and photography department with Lowell, agrees. This trip is “a European version of our successful Cuba trip, where students can take pictures of the most beautiful and dramatic cities in the world,” Russotti said. “Linda puts her heart and soul into this kind of student-based learning experience.”
Students will have the chance to work in a professional photography studio.
The trip would also benefit graphic design students. “It expands their knowledge base, which opens up their creativity” Russotti said. “We can never replace the hands-on experience of living in a different culture.”
When venturing into foreign lands, “having to compose images makes students more aware of their surroundings – they see the differences between their own culture and a foreign one. This awareness makes them more observant of their subjects,” said Study Abroad Director Corola Smith.
“Students at all skill levels can go, from beginning to advanced” she said.
Survival language instruction will be offered. Students also receive transferable semester units in Photo I, Photo II, or as an Independent Study option.
Students could experience sipping coffee at a sidewalk cafè, watching the city wake up, biting into a fresh buttery croissant, and surveying surroundings for photographic opportunities.
Side-trips to the Musee D’Orsay and the Louvre, and excursions to Vaux-le-Vicomte, the Loire Valley and Chartes Cathedral are all possible.
Print an application online or pick up a brochure at the Study Abroad Office in the International Education Center or in the Campus Center. Bon voyage!
– Lisette Davies Austin is
a Journalism 103 student
