if it were not for atget, there would not be a body work that documents ALL of old paris ... and the "little professions" (rag-man, monger, baker, tinker-er &c.) of the late 1800s early 20th century. he was more than an ordinary photographer.
we are lucky he took up photography and didn't continue working as an actor.
This forum is just the best....I must check it out twice a day. I have loved Atget's work ever since my college photo class but never was sure how his name was pronounced. I've hear Cartier-Bresson's name quite a few different ways. Many thanks.
The amazing thing about Atget is, firstly, the sheer volume of his work. To have created such an enormous body of work, covering not just Paris but also the villages surrounding Paris, and the fading grandeur of the palaces, people, landscape, architecture, details...the range is breathtaking. This, on the one hand, makes him of huge interest to historians (and to us all), for the glimpses he gives us of the nature of Parisian life and culture at the time. On the other hand, the nature of his vision elevates the work to a level beyond the ordinary document. I am not a great writer but this quote of Szarkowski sums it up quite well for me... "Atget brought to his work a quality that one might describe, inadequately, either as an original eye or an original mind....all of Atget's pictures are informed by a precise visual intelligence, by the 'clarte' formed by the highest virtue of the classic French tradition. This quality was achieved not by impeccable technique, but by discovering precisely what one meant to say, and saying neither more nor less" Try to look beyond technique. It is worthless w
Atget's Paris is about as fake as the Cottage of Marie Antionette. That is, the images are real but the romantic impression is imaginary. Give me Lartigue, Brassi, or Kertesz any day.
It makes no difference if Atget's vision is "romantic". The essence of the objection is that the viewer doesn't care for romanticism, and that's a description of the viewer's psychology, not a meaningful criticism of the work. It would be another matter if the work were "sentimental slop" or something of the sort. That is not the case with Atget, whose vision was unaffected and cogent. He's not an H.P. Robinson or a Mortenson. Thinking about their work shows very clearly that Atget was not a "romantic" in some debased sense. -jeff buckels
One might also question the 'true' nature of Lartigue's photography. His view on french life is equally 'fake'. His photographs are, however, just as astonishing. This is precisely because - like Atget's - they reflect a personal vision of the world. This can also be said of Kertesz and Brassai. Brassai particularly so, seeing as many of his his images of the Paris underworld were 'set-ups', and not in any way purely documentary. To dismiss Atget as a 'Romantic' is to totally miss the point. It is great, GREAT work and should be criticised with the respect that such a monumental life's achievement deserves. What do you know anyway!! Yours angrily...
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