Eugène Atget: Paris, 1857 1927

by Eugène Atget, Andreas Krase

Eugene Atget roamed the streets with his bulky large format camera, systematically cataloguing turn-of-the-century Old Paris down to the very smallest details. His skilled, wonderfully atmospheric photos of Paris' parks, buildings, streets, store windows, prostitutes, workers, and even door handles are a joy to behold.

Genres: Photography, Art, France, History

252 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Eugène Atget was a French photographer best known for his photographs of the architecture and streets of Paris. He took up photography in the late 1880s and supplied studies for painters, architects, and stage designers. Atget began shooting Paris in 1898 using a large format view camera to capture the city in detail. His photographs, many of which were taken at dawn, are notable for their diffuse light and wide views that give a sense of space and ambience. They also document Paris and its rapid changes; many of the areas Atget photographed were soon to be razed as part of massive modernization projects.

Atget’s photographs drew the admiration of a variety of artists, most notably Man Ray, Henri Matisse, and Pablo Picasso. Man Ray even used one of Atget’s photographs for the cover of his surrealist magazine la Révolution surréaliste. The photographer Berenice Abbott preserved Atget’s prints and negatives and was the first person to exhibit Atget’s work outside of France.

Reviews

[AC · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting collection of photographs, by the famed Eugène Atget, of Paris' empty buildings, courts, shop windows, carts, stairs, cobblestones, etc.... from c. 1900-1915. The same 20 page essay by Andreas Krase is printed three times -- in French, English, and then again in German.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful pictures that will haunt you. There is a "Mystery and Melancholy of a Street" vibe that takes you to a time and place you never could have experienced - because it was gone before you were born.

[Umair Khan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good pictural difference shown by the author and the photographer.