Zig Zagging

Recently my class went to Paris for a field trip and oh man were those 4 days filled to the brim, this is how the days looked:

Day 1 Thursday
I got up at 5 a.m. to take a taxi to Kings Cross/St. Pancras at 5:45, we had to be at the station at 6:45, because i'm always  early for everything I was there around 6ish, which was fine because I had time to sit and enjoy a breakfast. The train was at 7:22, it took a little while with customs

When we got to Paris we dropped our bags off at the hotel, some of us checked into our rooms and then we set out to find lunch. 5 of us went to eat at a nice little bistro. We had to be at Sotheby's Paris for a auction preview at 2, we decided to walk, now I walked all around Paris last year on my backpacking trip, however holy crap that was a long way. I don't think any of us figured that it was going to be that much of walk from where we were to where Sotheby's Auction house is. It's actually across from where the French President lives, interesting little side note. Anyway we got lost on the way, went left instead of right up the right street. We were late, which was fine, there was interesting photographs there, especially a book by Leni Reifenstahl (sp?) some by Seydou Keita among others.

After Sotheby's we went to Christies Auction House to see their preview and there was so much there, however probably more copies of prints then at Sotheby's. There was more in there and Henri Cartier-Bresson's photographs were there as well as many others. They had auction catalogues, but they were pretty expensive and were divided up by artists, I wish the auction house had a big catalogue, oh well. After Christies we headed to Institut Neerlandais where there was an exhibition going on of Breitner, who did early street photography. After that there was a talk given by a couple of notable people. One was the director of Musee D'Orsay, another was a online magazine editor, one was an artist and the other worked for the Institut Neerlandais. It was a little boring and we were tired and hungry. After the talk some of us headed back to the hotel and others headed out there own way. I went out to eat with 3 others, Alex, Juliette, and Laure. I had escargot for the first time, and it was a-mazing. It was so much fun getting to know people outside of classes. After dinner everyone was tired so we went back the hotel and went to bed. It was a long day and the next couple of days would be even longer.

Day 2 Friday
We didn't have get up early, this day we went to Paris Photo at the Grand Palais, great place to hold it in, it is an annual photography exhibition and there are a lot of galleries. Since I didn't know what to look at I kind of zig zagged my way around the venue. The first gallery I happened upon was Hamilton's, I was very impressed with how they set up their booth, it was very intimate and they showed only a couple of photographs. I wasn't originally going to talk to any gallery owners/workers, however i was so interested in these huge photographs that I just had to talk to someone who was working the booth. The photographs were of storms coming in on a coastline. Turns out the photographer's name is Murray Fredericks and the series was of time lapsed storms on the Australian coast. They are amazing and I would strongly suggest that whoever reads this go to www.murrayfredericks.com.au, click on the projects and go to the Hector Series. I want a coffee table book on that. There was so much to look at, another series I liked was of NASA images, I asked the gallery worker that worked there how they acquired the photo's, it was from various people as well as NASA just throwing those images away, which I can't imagine why they would in the first place. Nick Brandt's photography was there as well, I like his work. There was so much to take in, I went to the booths that interested me. I found more Ilse Bing photographs, a lot of Kertesz and many many more. Luckily our class went in early for VIP's so there wasn't a ton of people in there. If we had gone later in the day it would have been like Frieze art fair, I wouldn't have seen everything that I did and I would have gotten annoyed and would have left.

After Paris Photo I went out to eat with Jen, a friend from the course and then we went to Sotheby's photograph sale and even though it was in French I understood what was going on. It was very interesting to see what type of people collect photographs as well as how long they'll stay at the sale. We didn't stay the whole time, instead we were off to another place, this time to the Henri Cartier Bresson Foundation where Lewis Hine photographs were being exhibited. After that we went to La Maison Revue Noire, which is a gallery that exhibits African Contemporary Photography, it was the end of the day and I was not interested I was tired and I was hungry and I had enough of photography that day. After that everyone went their separate ways, however 4 of us, Alex, Jen, Julia and I, went to the Latin Quarter to eat and ended up at the same restaurant from the night before and had Fondue. We had various meats including duck, which was amazing, and wine. After dinner we headed back to the hotel and had some drinks, went to bed because we had to be up and going around 9 the next morning.

Day 3 Saturday
Up around 8ish to leave for Societe Francaise de Photographie, they showed original photography. However people were dropping like flies, not many places to sit, after that we went to have lunch and then went to La Maison Europeenne de la Photographie, I was quite taken with the Albanian Photography and would like to learn more about that, maybe someday? After that no one wanted to go to the last photography museum that was planned for that day, we pretty much had enough. Everyone went their separate ways and I went with Jen and we ended up walking and going for drink and a very long talk.

We then headed back to the hotel before a group dinner at Le Mesturet. Not everyone went, however it was a lot of fun, I met a woman who attended the first photography course, which was about 7 years ago. She's a psychologist who uses pictures sometimes as an ice breaker for her clients. We talked for a bit and for dinner I ended up having snails again, it was: Escargots de Bourgogne en feuille de chou, tomates et pleurotes, bouillon d’herbes fraiches (Burgundy snails in cabbage leaf, tomato and mushrooms, and fresh herbs broth) and steak, however I should have asked for it to be well done, I forget that medium well in France is still beating. I also had a lot of wine and a gin and tonic. After the restaurant we went back to the hotel to have some more drinks and then head to bed, it was 1 a.m. and we had to be up earliesh again, however I did not sleep that much that night a total of probably 5 hours, like that wouldn't haunt me. 


Day 4 Sunday (Our last day)
That day was not as busy as the last 3 days were, which was good, because everyone was tired, we went to Jeu de Paume near the Tuileries Gardens, we went to a Diane Arbus Exhibition, I had enough and I don't like Arbus' work that much. After that, Jen, Julia, and I went to go shopping, everyone was on their own again a didn't have to meet up until 6ish to head to the train station. So we found a vintage store and Jen and I, while waiting for Julia to try on some clothes, took pictures of ourselves in the hats and wigs, the workers got irritated at us. We were in the Jewish District and we headed to a falafel place that was mentioned to me by my roommate as well as the program coordinator, however there was a huge line and we didn't want to wait. 


So the three of us met Alex and headed out to eat at a pizza place. After that Jen and Julia took the tube back and Alex and I walked back to the hotel. We waited for everyone and left, I was so tired by then, when we got to the train station, immigration is a bit of a bitch. Two immigration posts and I had to put my info on a paper to give to one of the officers, which meant that I had to step out of line. Then we had to go through x-ray and metal detectors and of course no one is prepared for that. The whole operation would have gone smoothly if they had signs warning you what to do. Anyway the train was a long ride back and I ended up having an hour commute home because the Northern line was being worked on. I got home, talked with my roommates and was on the computer for a little bit and went to bed. So an exhausting 4 days that was worth it, zig zagging everywhere, this way and that way and I wouldn't have done it any other way or with any other group of people. It brought us a little closer as a group and we know each other's interests a little better now.