A Level Students Travel to Paris

23 of our A level Artists and Photographers set off early last Friday morning to take the Eurostar to Paris.

In what seemed like a whirlwind of a weekend, they had an incredible time together in the city, managing to see modern and contemporary art at no less than seven different galleries, including: Musée Rodin, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Musée D’Orsay, Louvre, Centre Pompidou, Fondation Henri Cartier Bresson, and Palais Galliera.

It was an excellent opportunity not only to see and experience Paris and some of the art on offer, but to immerse themselves in the language and cuisine.

Year 12’s Amelie B and Bash shared their experience of the weekend.

Year 12’s Amelie B
We visited museums such as the D’Orsay, Rodin and the Louvre which were not only hugely inspirational in their setting but also in the material with a range from The Thinker, Van Gogh’s self-portrait and The Mona Lisa. On the first night we had a candlelit pizza dinner at Le Bookie which was very atmospheric and had delicious food. The next day we were off to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs which featured a wide range of textile based art and then hit the gift shop for some postcards.

Year 12’s Bash
Over the weekend we visited the Henri Cartier Bresson Foundation, who was a pioneer in street photography as well as the Pompidou which displayed a wide range of contemporary art, broadening our inspiration for our upcoming work. I especially enjoyed visiting the Cartier Bresson Foundation as he’s a photographer that I’ve looked at and taken inspiration from; seeing his work in the museum gave me more ideas and talking points for my related study on the ethics of street photography. The last evening in Paris was spent at a French steakhouse where we soaked up the Parisian vibes even more!