Eugène Atget, 1857-1827

"These are simply documents I make"


Eugène Atget; flâneur, photographer of turn of the century Paris.
Abhorred by the modern movement and it's infringement on the historic quality of Paris Eugène Atget made it his life's work to document the sense of 'Old Paris'. Atget did this through photographing not only the laneways, slums, bridges,stairways which constituted pre revolution Paris but also the street vendors, prostitutes and beggars which contributed to the fabric of the Parisian street scene. He seems to have identified with the peripheries of everyday life, facing his camera away from the bustle and concentrating on the overlooked.




Atget's primary source of income was selling his images as study documents for artists and architects from his studio in Montparnasse and it was here where he gained notoriety among the surrealist movement. The wispy sense of light resulting from his very long exposure times created an eerie ghost like scene. This new take on his subject; the everyday and ordinary things of Parisian life and the way his images seemed to capture a sense of ambience with their wide angle views attracted the attention of Man Ray. By this stage Atget's technique and equipment were well antiquated his large bellows camera being 60 years old yet he refused the use of the newer equipment of his new acquaintance Man Ray . These encounters began 2 years before Atget's death and saw him being published for the first time in Man Ray's 'La Révolution Surréaliste'. It is only after his death in 1827 that he received renown for his work in part thanks to a young Berenice Abbott who published his work into the book 'The World of Atget'

Prostitute on her Shift, Rue Asselin, Paris
An figure typical  of Atget's documentation
of the peripheries of Paris

Gladiateur Mourant; Gardens of Versailles
Aget seems to wish to convey the fall into disrepair of old 

France.

Barges on the Seine opposite La Consiergerie,
 1er Arondissement 1923
Here Atget's long exposure perfectly capture the
ambience of a Winter's morning on the seine.

Eugene Atget wasborn in Libourne, near Bordeaux, in 1857. Only at the age of 40 did he quit a rather unsuccessful career in acting and became a photographer. Little is known of his absolute intentions, though a lack of theorizing and experimentation might suggest that Atget saw little to value in his own workbeyond a commercial products sold to artists.

Atget's technological approach was outdated before he even began. He photographed Paris with a large format, wooden bellows camera with a rapid rectilinear lens. His photography, consequentially, is characterised by a wispy, drawn out sense of light due to long exposures; a fairly wide view that suggested space and ambiance more than surface detail; and an intentionally limited range of scenes.

Atget occupies a unique position in the history of photography, being claimed as the father of two diverging ideologies. One the one hand, he is presented as the forerunner for transparent, no frills, unpretentious photography. His work a recording of traditional French life on the old back streets of Paris before they were bulldozed by modernity. On the other, Atget is seen as the first Modernist photographer. His images of snatched glimpses, tangential perspectives, odd reflections and bizarre details providing the basis for Surrealism.

The truth maybe somewhere in between. Eugene Atget ought to be viewed as a hinge joining the 19th and 20th centuries. His work bridges the gap between photography as a transparent, almost anonymous record of reality and as an artistic construct practiced self-consciously and intentionally. His genius lies in this synthesis.

Week 2 - Walker Evans

Licence Photo Studio, New York, 1934 - Walker Evans

This week, we will be looking at Walker Evans: American Photographs. The essay by Lincoln Kirstein in the book is important to read, as is an essay by Allan Tractenberg in Reading American Photographs: Images as History, Matthew Brady to Walker Evans. (pp231-286, A Book Nearly Anonymous). 
Walker Evans: The Hungry Eye by Gilles Mora and John T. Hill provides a good background to Evans as does Walker Evans: Lyric Documentary by John T. Hill. 
All four books are on reserve in Richview Library. 
Also, check out this essay written by Walker Evans for Hound & Horn in 1931 - 'The Reappearance of Photography'. 


We will also be looking at a photographer that influenced Evans - Eugene Atget, and a contemporary - Berenice Abbott.
Have a look at the books on Atget in the library, as well as the following for Berenice Abbott:
Berenice Abbott: Changing New York - Bonnie Yochelson (ucd library link).
Two essays by Berenice Abbott in Photographers on Photography - Nathan Lyons (1951 It has to Walk Alone & 1951 Photography at the Crossroads (ucd library link).