Lecture 3: The Artist with a Camera

During this lecture we focused on Eugène Atget, French photographer. There are many opinions that Atget was a frustrated painter that took up photography either because he wasn't very good or because his interests were in both visual mediums. In 1890 he settled in Paris as a commercial photographer.

Atget's photography focuses on Paris through the changes that happened in the city and you get to see  "The Art of Old Paris" which is a series he captured with more than 3000 pictures, most produced between 1898 and 1915. The series consists of architectural detail, and streetscapes. 
There isn't much written by Eugène Atget about himself unfortunately but we know that his equipment consisted of a 18 x 24cm view camera, with almost none of the present day adjustments. He used glass plates and he certainly didn't use a exposure meter, which you can tell by some of his images, especially 'Interior', Hotel de Lauzun, Paris, c.1900. Eugène Atget mostly closed down his aperture and having a long exposure around f/64. The only time he opened up the lens was when he focused on the people in the series 'Petits Metiers' and "Scenes de la Rue'. 
Due to having such a heavy camera and equipment, Atget mostly went out during the early mornings to photograph as he had to carry it around and it would probably be a burden in a busy street. 

Berenice Abbott on seeing Atget's work for the first time 'Their impact was immediate and tremendous. There was a sudden flash of recognition – the shock of realism unadorned. The subjects were not sensational, but nevertheless shocking in their very familiarity'. She was working for Man Ray that year whose studio was on the same street as Atget's. From there she got to know Eugène Atget and bought prints from him and also encouraged him to sit for a portrait, which unfortunately he never got to see as he passed away shortly after it being taken. 

Rue de la Montagne Sainte Genevieve

Berenice Abbott's portrait of Eugène Atget