Eugene Atget (Photobook) [Hardcover]

Eugene Atget (Author), Andreas Krase (Author), Hans-Christian Adam (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Photobook | Publication Date: October 10, 2000

Unraveling the mystery of Eugene Atget's life and work (1857-1927) is easier said than done. Now considered to be one of history's most important photographers, Atget (1857-1927) was relatively unknown until well after his death. We know that he made his living selling his prints, mainly to architects, artists, and institutions, but his categorical, obsessive method of photographing Paris street by street (doorknob by doorknob in some cases) lacks clear explanation.

Atget wrote in 1920, "I may say that I have in my possession all of Old Paris". Indeed, he knew the city like the back of his hand and had the pictures to prove it. He captured the historical, atmospheric Paris: churches, monuments, and buildings, as well as bars, shop windows, street-peddlers, and prostitutes. Traversing all of its layers, he immortalized the true spirit of Old Paris.

Why did he choose to spend his life roaming the streets with his heavy camera equipment, systematically cataloguing everything Parisian? The answer, if it can be discovered, must be found in the pictures themselves. Whether he intended to or not, Atget has left us with an impeccable record of turn-of-the-century Paris, not to mention a huge collection of stunningly beautiful photographs. This new book features 200 of Atget's most impressive images, many of which have rarely been seen before. Take a trip back in time and immerse yourself in Atget's Paris.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Atget's impressive body of work is permanently linked to the city of Paris. Originally, he photographed models for artists who then painted from the photos, and when Paris was being modernized he was paid to record the buildings of Old Paris. While the artist insisted that the photographs were just "documents," his work gradually became centered on the social life of Paris's lower classes. Throughout his career, he eschewed the so-called landmarks of Paris in favor of coal carts, peddlers, and deadpan images of building facades from every arrondissement. For decades, he has been admired by fellow artists; Man Ray collected his work, and Berenice Abbot bought and preserved much of her Atget collection and donated the archive to MOMA. And Atget has had immeasurable influence on contemporary photography, from Bernd and Hilla Becher's industrial scenes to Thomas Ruff's portraits. This latest volume in Taschen's series of large-format monographs presenting the work of eminent photographers successfully conveys the quality and range of Atget's work. As always, the reproductions are very fine, and the biographical essay, if not revelatory, succeeds in introducing the artist to a new audience. Atget the Pioneer, produced to accompany an exhibition traveling from Paris to New York later this year, picks up where the previous volume leaves off. The authors, conservators at the Biblioth que Nationale, trace Atget's influence by juxtaposing his works with those of other luminaries, from August Sander and Walker Evans to Bill Brandt and Lee Friedlander. The three essays here successfully convey Atget's range of influence, and some of the sepia-toned images are breathtaking. In its own way, each of these books complements John Szarkowski's recent Atget (LJ 9/15/00), which delved into analysis of individual pictures. Libraries that can afford all three would have an excellent and complete record of the man's work. Small libraries could make do with Taschen's affordable volume, with Atget the Pioneer a close second choice.DDouglas McClemont, New York
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

This new collection of Atget’s photographs shows his systematic, beautifully detailed work in all its splendor.” -- Picture Magazine, January 2001

“It delivers a great deal of information at a budget price.” -- New York Times, 12/3/00

“This is a book that creates nostalgia for the Paris that was.” -- Black & White Magazine, February 2001

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Taschen (October 10, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3822862150
• ISBN-13: 978-3822862155
• Product Dimensions: 13.2 x 10.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,044,311 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 19TH CENTURY PARIS PASSIONATELY DOCUMENTED FOR POSTERITY, January 17, 2001

By 

"natalierinkenbach" (new york) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eugene Atget (Photobook) (Hardcover)

Eugene Atget (1857-1927) is the undisputed photo-documentarian of 19th century Paris. With studious attention to detail, Atget seemingly photographed every intimate corner of his much-loved city. Leaving the well-known monuments and boulevards to others, Atget instead concentrated on the atmospheric fabric of everyday Paris, photographing shops and window displays, cobbled streets, doorways, stairways, vehicles, churches, amusement parks, street-peddlers and prostitutes.

Unraveling the mystery of Eugène Atget's life and work is easier said than done. Now considered to be one of history's most important photographers, Atget was relatively unknown during his lifetime. Posthumously famous for his photographs, Atget in fact made only a humble living selling his prints to architects, artists, and institutions.

Atget wrote in 1920, "I may say that I have in my possession all of Old Paris." His systematic method of photographing Paris street by street is spellbinding, and the result is a detailed catalogue of 19th century Paris. The result of Eugène Atget's life's work is gathered here in a heartbreakingly beautiful book for lovers of Paris, architecture, and photography.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Atget's Simple Documents, August 11, 2000

By 

Tom Rand - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Focus: Eugene Atget : Photographs from the J. Paul Getty Museum (Paperback)

The J. Paul Getty Museum's latest photography book installment - focusing on the work of Eugene Atget, offers the best example of curators creating much ado about an artists work, through speculation and second-guessing. This merely justifies the curator's reason for employment, while boring the reader with a treasure trove of euphemisms and art-speak banter. That we learn more about each speaker's own Rorschach test interpretation of the photographs and less on the artist is not the point. The point is, why does the final third of the book contain this colloquium, when it could easily have been filled with more samplings from the Museum's 295 Atget holdings? Atget's images of Paris are brilliant for what they represent: a visual recording of what he considered worth preserving in pictures. His subject matter ranged from buildings and statues - to interiors, street merchants, and anything worthy of pursuing photographically in and around Paris. Atget's photographs gain their strength due to their simplicity; any further interpretation renders them less for their intent - which was purely documentation. Skip the verbiage contained in "Eugene Atget: Photographs from the J. Paul Getty Museum", and just enjoy Atget's simple photographs of his beloved Paris.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superbly presented and invaluable contribution, March 1, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Focus: Eugene Atget : Photographs from the J. Paul Getty Museum (Paperback)

Eugene Atget (1857-1927) spent almost thirty years photographing details of often inconspicuous Parisian buildings, side streets, cul-de-sacs, and public sculptures. In Focus: Eugene Atget brings together more than 50 of the J. Paul Getty Museum's 295 photographs by Atget, with commentary on each image by associate curator of photographs at the Getty Museum, Gordon Baldwin. Atget's photograph and Baldwin's commentary are enhanced with a chronological overview of Atget's life and an edited transcript of a colloquium on his career. In Focus: Eugene Atget is a superbly presented and invaluable contribution to the history of photography.