The Curious Curator's Book Blog

I have known Eugène Atget's photographs for a while, but only on a superficial way - that is, I knew next to nothing about him, his life, why he chose to photograph Paris so extensively, how he set about to do it, and so on. So I was happy to pick up a book that would tell me a bit more about him.

I was a bit disappointed by the essay at the beginning. While informative, it was rather short. It left me still wondering about what his motives were for working the way he did. Was it love, obsession, or simply work? The photos themselves don't give a clear answer either. One can only assume what is proposed by the title of the book: that Atget considered this city HIS city, and wanted to immortalize Paris through his work.

The images are presented to us in groups (workers, old Paris, stairs, etc.) which emphasizes the "historic catalog" feeling. Aesthetically speaking, the photographs themselves are beautiful, with lovely tones and contrast. The print quality is as good as I'm used to seeing from Taschen, as is the type of paper. They really are to be commended for offering such great books at such a low price.

The best thing about this book was, for me, to compare the photographs with what I remember from present Paris. A lovely addition to my (still very small) photography book collection.