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| Meredith © Lauren Gezurian-Amlani |
In her upcoming 4-session Exploring Course, she’ll take you
to some of the most photogenic places in Paris.
Each session begins with essential photo tips in a café of the chosen neighborhood. Then students are sent out with a choice of assignments that equate to “purposeful wandering.” Afterwards, they gather in a specially chosen restaurant for a review of their images. With Meredith’s techniques, you’ll move from selfies to artistic self-expression in no time!
“There’s nothing like the beauty of Paris as a backdrop. As I turn every corner I feel lost in time. I want all my students to be inspired by the city, and communicate through images what they’re thinking or feeling, and what they’re attracted to,” Meredith explains.
Each session begins with essential photo tips in a café of the chosen neighborhood. Then students are sent out with a choice of assignments that equate to “purposeful wandering.” Afterwards, they gather in a specially chosen restaurant for a review of their images. With Meredith’s techniques, you’ll move from selfies to artistic self-expression in no time!
“There’s nothing like the beauty of Paris as a backdrop. As I turn every corner I feel lost in time. I want all my students to be inspired by the city, and communicate through images what they’re thinking or feeling, and what they’re attracted to,” Meredith explains.
“It always amazes me that the members of our group can be
wandering the same streets during the same few hours and, yet, the resulting
photographs are totally unique. Everyone has a unique style, and sees the
quartier a little bit differently. That is what the art of photography is
all about.”
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| The swan: © Nola Erhardt |
“We also have a great heritage in the city,” she continues.
“We can’t forget we’re walking in the footsteps of the iconic 20th century Paris street photographers, such as
Cartier-Bresson, Ronis and Doisneau, who famously said, “The marvels
of daily life are exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected that
you find in the street.”
Some students might be timid about photographing people, but
Meredith helps them get over it.
“People might be the most interesting subjects, so they have
to be in the repertoire, and sometimes I give the assignment of finding
interesting characters in the streets. But I might also assign the theme of
water in its different forms, depth perspective, motion, or lighting
techniques. The group choses what to work on before we meet up again to see and
discuss the results as a class.”
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| Rain Reflections: © Eva Ferziger |
Meredith arrived in Paris to stay 11 years ago, and soon after published her award-winning book of stories and photographs, In a Paris Moment. As soon as she settled on the Ile Saint Louis, she discovered the language courses at WICE, which were an immediate source of enduring friendships. She soon found herself bringing her 40 years of teaching experience to the program, initiating the exploring class of secret hideaways to inspire great pictures, as well as new ways of seeing the well-known places and monuments.
She has an impressive résumé, with a publishing career and
more than 40 photography exhibitions and showings in galleries and museums in
France and the US to her credit. Among her prizes are the Concours Photo sur Paris, Px3, Worldwide Gala Awards, and
Photographer’s Forum, and she co-founded and directed the International Fine
Art Photography Competition.
She claims to be one of the last die-hards to have left the dark room for digital, but now thinks the new age is better. She says at Paris Photo, the International Fine Art Photography Fair in November, she saw trends of big photos with vibrant color, some very conceptual and some not at all, but she also noticed that black and white photography is coming back with a new richness all its own.
She claims to be one of the last die-hards to have left the dark room for digital, but now thinks the new age is better. She says at Paris Photo, the International Fine Art Photography Fair in November, she saw trends of big photos with vibrant color, some very conceptual and some not at all, but she also noticed that black and white photography is coming back with a new richness all its own.
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| Fondation Louis Vuitton: © Gerry Fisher |
Photo credits:
Meredith © Lauren Gezurian-Amlani
The swan: © Nola Erhardt
Rain Reflections: © Eva Ferziger
Fondation Louis Vuitton: © Gerry Fisher
Post by Elizabeth Bouché
WICE Office
10 rue Tiphaine
75015 Paris
Monday to Friday 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
From inside France 01 45 66 75 50
wice@wice-paris.org
SY232 Exploring Paris Through the Lens
23 May to 13 June, Tuesday Mornings 10 to 1 PM at
At instructor’s Studio, Isle Saint Louis and various locations
around Paris