Post-Trip

And so it ends.

The course anyway. My trip isn't actually over for a few more days yet.

Coming to Paris has been quite the experience, and in so many ways. First and foremost, this course gave us the opportunity to see the history of photography in the flesh. Something I've also held by is that you can study and research a topic as much as possible, but seeing the real thing is something else. It allows you to truly see and appreciate the pieces for what they are, in image content and in materiality.

This course has given me a wake-up call as well. On occasion, the lovely and wonderful people that spoke to us during our many visits would speak French while Marta translated. I found myself more and more listening to the French version and frantically writing my notes in English. It's been good to discover that my French language skills aren't as forgotten as I thought they were. Walking around Paris has forced me to practice again, and to learn more to ensure I am understood. I can take this back to my life in Canada and maybe even my future career. My mom always told us that being bilingual would be an asset; this trip, and a larger career field may just prove her right.

Going back through my notes and pictures for this journal has left me with mixed feelings. A large portion of these are missing Paris and the wonderful experience she gave us. The rest has been a further understanding of everything we saw. Writing this journal has been very enlightening; I've had a chance to really look into what we were frantically scribbling while we were being shown so many beautiful works. The extra research to verify some numbers and historical facts has furthered my knowledge of what we saw. I feel I can talk more confidently now about photography, more than I already could.

This was always going to be more than just an excuse to go to Paris, and it always will be. I am indebted to Marta and Peter for their help and knowledge throughout the whole experience, and will never forget the three weeks of awesome that was the PP8205 course.



As a side note, the academic entries to this blog are more or less over, chiefly being due to the fact that the journal is due today. I will be adding a few personal entries after this one of the extra days I had in Paris, although mostly a photo dump from the Louvre visit : )