Eugène Atget

Eugène Atget was a man who wanted to save the soul of Paris.

He was a pioneer of documentary photography. This means he used his camera to record real life as it happened. He was determined to capture the old architecture and street scenes of the city. He wanted to document them before they disappeared due to modernization. Many people now see him as a creator of romantic views of Paris. His work is not just about single pictures. It is about a huge collection of about 10,000 photographs. This collection is called an archive.

Atget used a very specific way to take his pictures. He used a large-format wooden bellows camera. The bellows is a part that folds like an accordion. This helped him control the perspective and keep building lines straight. He used glass plates made by the Bande Bleue brand. These plates required long exposures to work. Because of this, moving people often looked blurry in his shots. After taking a photo, he worked in a simple darkroom. He would develop, wash, and fix his negatives there. He did not use an enlarger to make bigger copies. This meant every print was the same size as the original negative.

Atget's journey to becoming a photographer was quite long. He was born in Libourne on February 12, 1857. He lost his parents when he was only seven years old. He grew up in Bordeaux and later joined the merchant navy. In 1878, he moved to Paris to try acting. He even went to drama school, but he was expelled. He worked as an actor with a traveling group for a while. He eventually gave up acting in 1887 due to an infection. He tried painting, but that did not work out either. He finally began taking his first photographs in 1888.

By 1890, Atget was a professional photographer in Paris. He hung a sign on his door that said "Documents pour Artistes." This meant he provided studies for painters and architects. He made many different series of photos. One series was called "Petits Métiers," which showed small trades. He also worked on "Topography of Old Paris" to show historic buildings. In 1906, the Bibliothèque historique de la ville de Paris hired him. He was asked to photograph old buildings in a systematic way. He also spent many years photographing the gardens at Versailles. He even sold 2,600 negatives for 10,000 francs to a museum official.

Atget's work connects many different kinds of people. Even though he was not famous during his life, he inspired many. Famous artists like Picasso and Matisse bought his photographs. They used his images to help them create their own art. A woman named Berenice Abbott helped make him famous later. She bought his photos and showed them to other artists. She even sold his collection to the Museum of Modern Art in 1968. Atget died in Paris on August 4, 1927. Today, we look at his archive to see a lost world. His photos help us understand how Paris used to look.