A group of students studying Photography and Graphic Communication kicked off 2019 with a study trip to New York City to explore the sites and culture of the city that never sleeps.
The annual New York trip set off from our Parkside Building on 27 January and returned five days later after providing students with a fantastic opportunity to see and experience some major studios and museums in the city. The highlights included visits to marketing agency, King and Partners, Media Company, Clear Channel and Digital agency, The Charles.
In an attempt to fight jet lag, staff arranged a group walk to Time Square in the afternoon/evening of the first day. Students had the opportunity to visit some of the key locations nearby, such as Empire State, Macy’s, Grand Central Station, as well as sampling the local cuisine.
The following days all started in the same way; breakfast followed by second breakfast. Once fully fed, there were opportunities to visit tourist attractions and points of interest. Some of the places visited on the trip include Guggenheim Museum, Whitney Museum, Pace/McGill Gallery, MoMA, Statue of Liberty, and Brooklyn Bridge. The students also had time to (slightly) step away from the busy concrete jungle to enjoy walks around Central Park and the High Line, helping burn off some of the extra calories from the double breakfasts!
The best part of the trip was waking up at 6am and traveling the subway to Brooklyn to catch the sunrise in a little area called Dumbo. Catching the morning light on the Manhattan skyline was pretty insane.
Rhys Grail, BA (Hons) Photography student
After organising seven previous visits to NYC, Prof Andrew Kulman was one of the tutors to accompany the students on the trip,
This City has it all. Whether you want to see world class exhibits at MoMA and the Met or go to the ‘Top of the Rock’, Empire State Building or simply schlep up and down Fifth Avenue shopping for bargains, there is something for every student. There were some great studio visits on offer as well.
Andrew Kulman
As well as visiting the classic tourist attractions, students also fit in some time to enjoy the local experience by going to a gig on the Lower East Side.
The gig was a memorable moment for me. We went to a little place called ‘Mercury Lounge’ to see one of my favourite artists, Soak. It was a pretty chilled and less touristy thing to do, and the night ended with some pretty good Thai food. All in all it was a really cool night.
Rhys Grail
The School of Visual Communication organise many study visits to places such as Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris and Venice as well as trips to London and Wales to ensure there is an abundance of opportunities for interested students.
Some of the photographs taken in New York by Photography students Rhys Grail and Harry FitzJohn are shown below.
