Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Eugene Atget

Atget finally settled in Paris in the 1890s. Despite Atget's limited background in the visual arts, he saw photography as a source of income, selling his photographs to artists in the nearby town of Montparnasse. He advertised his photographs as "documents for artists." It was common practice at the time for painters to paint scenes from photographs. By the mid-1890s, Atget bought his first camera and began to photograph more than 10,000 images of the people and sights of the French capital. By 1899, he had moved to Montparnasse, where he lived and earned a modest income until his death in 1927.


1 comment:

renaelaughs said...

Wow! That first photo is amazing! It took me a while to decipher it. Actually, I am STILL deciphering it. =D So much emotion in that work of art.