Eugene Atget's Paris (Icons Series) [Paperback]

Andreas Krase (Author), Hans Christian Adam (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 3822855499 | ISBN-13: 978-3822855492 | Publication Date: June 15, 2001

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's parks, buildings, streets, store windows, prostitutes, workers, and even door handles are a joy to behold. This abbreviated volume contains a selection of Atget's best photographs and is the perfect introduction to this master photographer's work.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"All I can say: get collecting. These books are an incredible value." - Image, London, on the photography book series" --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Hans Christian Adam studied psychology, art history and communication studies in Gottingen and Vienna. As a specialist in historical pictorial material, he has published numerous articles and books, including titles on travel and war photography. He is the author of TASCHEN's Edward Sheriff Curtis: The North American Indian, Karl Blossfeldt, Eugene Atget: Paris and Berlin. Andreas Krase (born 1958) lives in Berlin and Dresden, where he is curator of the Hermann Krone Collection at the University of Technology. He has published numerous articles and catalogues on photo-related topics. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Taschen (June 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3822855499
• ISBN-13: 978-3822855492
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #903,801 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The master at work, January 18, 2009

By 

Preston S. Page "Preston Page" (St. Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Eugene Atget's Paris (Icons Series) (Paperback)

This book is a wonderful collection of work by Atget. One, at least I, tend to forget just how influential Atget was in bridging documentary photography to art. One star off because I wish the book had larger dimensions and better print quality, not that the quality is bad. This is an excellent value for a budget book.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Atget was one of the Pioneers of Street Photography, May 12, 2009

By 

James R. Holland "Author of Boston's Notable ... (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Atget, Paris (Taschen 25th Anniversary Edition) (Hardcover)

Score another beautifully done coffee table book of photography to Taschen's publishing reputation. Atget was not only one of the pioneers of street photography he may have been the first full-time practitioner of that art? If not the first, he was certainly one of the best and he devoted his entire life to that career. It was amazing he could make a living at it, but then again he had given up both his acting and painting careers, so it may have seemed more lucrative than either of those professions.
"Born in 1857 the son of a Libourne carriage-builder, he lived for over three decades in the great metropolis of Paris, where he constantly explored the city's historic streets and squares, made contact with numerous potential buyers, and gave evening lectures in adult education centers." His original plan was to sell individual photographs of scenes and nudes to artists in order to save them the costs of traveling to the location or paying for models. He had a great many commissions and contracts to document the historic architecture of "Old Paris." His normal shooting gear included 20 kilos of equipment including a heavy-duty tripod, wooden camera and a supply of 18 X 24 cm glass negatives. He spent his entire adult life dragging this heavy burden around all of Paris and its suburbs. It was amazing he had any energy left to take his photos.
"From 1902, onwards, his visiting cards and letterheads proudly read `E. Atget, Author and Publisher of a Photographic Collection of Old Paris.'" By this time he had become a successful and much in demand photographer.
Around 1909 the Paris photographer grew tired of working on a commission basis and started publishing his work in the form of albums of prints and post cards. The subjects of the albums tended to focus on particular subjects such as "Vehicles of Paris" which was devoted to the pre-automobile means of transport used by Partisans. As the son of carriage maker, Atget had a particular affinity for these horse drawn means of transport and those pictures are some of this reviewer's favorite examples of the photographer's work. He concentrated on the old and carefully avoided the new and trendy. Photographer friend and promoter of Atget's work, Berenice Abbott who eventually purchased most of Atget's negatives and prints from his estate, counted 121 different albums of his work in 1927. Samples from these different albums and motifs are used to separate the different types of photographs reproduced in this collection. Two of my favorite sections in addition to the "Vehicles of Paris" are the so-called "bizarre series, such as portraits of prostitutes (1921), or shots of merry-go-rounds. Added to this, he made a new edition his of his photographs of shop-windows." The shop window displays look very much like the products of today and include styles of clothing that are once again coming into vogue. A neighbor of Atget, Man Ray, was one of the first photographers to take notice of Atget's work and began collecting and publishing it as well as recommending it to other artists, collectors and publishers. May Ray also shared Atget's interest in clothing mannequins, but while Atget considered all his work mere documentation of the world he lived in, Man Ray was more interested in making his photography something more. Berenice Abbott was one of May Ray's darkroom assistants and she may have introduced Ray to Atget or vice-versa since Man Ray was his neighbor?
I don't want to end this short review without also mentioning the collections of Street Fairs and the many portraits of "Salesmen and Traders on the Streets of Paris." Both chapters contain many memorable images including one of my favorites entitled 'Model-Boat hirer." That picture brings back many happy memories of my own childhood in St. Louis where I used to sail one of my grandfather's antique model boats on the lake behind the St. Louis Art Museum.
Little about Atget's personal life is known, but this volume does include an excellent year-by-year illustrated biography of what is known about his background. This is one of the more important collections of photographic history that has been published by Taschen Publishing. The book contains separate translations of the text in English, French and German. This is another nice book for the serious collectors of photography or fans of "Old Paris."

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, October 10, 2008

By 

Kerem Koc (Cambridge, ON) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Atget, Paris (Taschen 25th Anniversary Edition) (Hardcover)

Eugene Atget is a wonderful photographer and you can find many important images in this book. The book included 3 languages (English, French and German)Enjoy...