Paris: The Birthplace of Photography

So you've taken Photography 101, you've got that really cool, used, SLR camera from the pawn shop and you've always dreamed of being good enough to hold your own exhibition where patrons will praise your genius and bid four- and five-digit figures for your "Introspective on Inner-City Potholes. Why not consider studying abroad in the birthplace of photography? Bonjour, Paris!

A great example is our Photography & Film Development in Paris course at our CEA Global Campus in Paris. The 300-level course is taught in English, worth 3 credits, and introduces students bursting with creative potential to the exuberance of Paris's landscapes, city scenes, intellectuals and art.

Our photography course offers something for beginners, intermediate or advanced photographers – all you need to bring is your passion. Passion for experiencing life. Passion for art. Any artist favoring any form of media will tell you the two go hand in hand. So what better place to awaken your inner Annie Liebowicz or Andy Warhol than a study abroad program in Paris?

Here's a snippet of the course description:

"This class has been designed to familiarize you with the basic technical, aesthetic and thematic concerns of photography while using Paris, the birthplace of the medium itself, as the perfect backdrop. Straight photography, with an emphasis on self expression and the development of a personal vision, will serve as the basis for much of your work. Through visual lectures, museum excursions and film screenings, you will gain exposure to a wide variety of international photographic work, thus providing you with a rich and varied visual vocabulary. Shooting on location throughout this inspirational city will give you hands-on technical experience in conjunction with individual attention and guidance from the instructor. Class critiques of ongoing work will instruct you how to read and edit your photographic portfolios as well of those of your peers. Such open forums foster critical and analytical thinking while cultivating a vision of your own. At the end of the semester, your more creative work will be included in an exhibition that you will help plan, organize and execute."

An exhibition in Paris? You know your friends back home won't be able to top that next semester. Look at it this way, even if your photos aren't up to Vanity Fair standards, a bad photo in Paris has to be more fun and memorable than a great photo taken back home of that pothole in front of the Physics building on campus.

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