An Introduction

My name is Ashley Cook and I am a graduate student at Ryerson University in the Photographic Preservation and Collections Management program. Amongst the many courses we as students undertake, one that I was lucky enough to be a part of is PP8205, the France workshop.

This three week trip to Paris, France included tours and discussions with curators, conservators and museum staff of some of the premier fine art and cultural institutions of Paris. We were shown pieces of these collections that are only known to us previously as reproductions in textbooks and lectures. Photographic history, modern and past, was passed before our eager eyes.

Despite the appearance of this trip as being just an amazing experience for photo nerds, it is actually a course. We frantically scribbled pages of notes at lectures, recorded conversations with curators and took thousands of pictures of our whole experience. All of these things are distilled into what you'll be reading the next wee while, the Paris Journal.

I chose to make a blog of my experiences. It seemed like a good idea at the time :)

I hope you enjoy.

 

Photography By A Cook