Eugène Atget

Jean Eugène Auguste Atget ( born February 12, 1857 in Libourne, † August 4, 1927 in Paris) was a French photographer.

Life

Atget began his career initially with moderate success as an actor. After he had photographed some time as a hobby, he made the photograph to his profession. His theme was Paris, the city in which he lived in the Rue Campagne Première - 17 and that he loved. Noteworthy are his series pittoresques Paris and Le vieux Paris. He documented around the turn of the century with his bulky large format camera, the old Paris, in order to systematically catalog the smallest details of the city. His skilful, wonderfully atmospheric photos of the parks, buildings, streets, shop windows, prostitutes, workers, and even door handles of Paris offer a splendid sight. Need for these recordings, there were not only among tourists and collectors, but also among painters and stage designers who used his photos as templates for their own work. Later he also sold series of museums and libraries. Although he could earn his living in this way, either artistically or financially, the breakthrough came to Continued Success.

Atget worked with a 18 × 24 cm camera, which was already considered in his time as outdated equipment. It is often rumored that historically false story to the effect that Atget stubbornly refused to change to one that offered him by his friend Man Ray Rolleiflex, as these it was "too fast". Rolleiflex prototypes there was only from 1928, the production of this camera started in 1929, Atget died in 1927.

1920 Atget sold much of his collection to the École nationale supérieure des beaux -arts de Paris. Although this sale was not a commercial success, but saved his collection, which already had significant bearing damage. With Atget, Man Ray had the young photographer Berenice Abbott met, the remaining collection from the estate acquired after his death, published in books and eventually sold to the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Your work, it is thanks to them that Atget not forgotten.

At the age of 70 years Eugène Atget died on August 4, 1927 in Paris.

Works

• Atget Paris. Hazan, Paris 1992, ISBN 2-85025-294-8

Exhibitions

• Eugène Atget - Paris around 1900, Fotomuseum Winterthur March - 25, 2008 Catalogue Eugène Atget - Retrospective, see references
• Eugène Atget - Paris, Musée Carnavalet in Paris, from April 25 to July 29, 2012