Book review: Atget Paris. Gingko Press, Corte Madera, CA, 1992.

There’s not a lot in this book but photos, but there are more of them than in any currently in-print collection, over 800 by the publisher’s count.  The book is like a large brick and is not something you’d like carry around for casual viewing.

The photo selection emphasizes Atget's urban cityscapes, organized geographically by arrondissement, Paris’ wards or districts.  There is less emphasis on architectural features (such as grillwork or door knockers) and interiors, though examples of the tradesmen, the city outskirts, and transport have been included.  After looking at so many books organized largely around themes, which also represent a chronological progression as they were often shot as a set, its startling to see examples of these images side by side representing place.  Even if you've seen many of Atget's photos before, seeing them organized thus can open up new understandings of his work.

The short essay by Laure Beaumont-Maillet (art historian and Director of the Department of Prints and Photography at the Bibliothèque nationale de France) covers the basics, and doesn’t have much to recommend it, certainly not in comparison to Krase.  Looking at his photos, she observes, it is impossible not to think about his business. He forever considered himself, she says, a documentarian. In his day, to be regarded as an artist, meant to be a pictorialist, which he clearly wasn't.  “Every commentator looks for the man behind the myth;  but the man remains elusive, and we must reconcile ourselves to that.”  (p28)

I have a 1992 edition.  Newer versions may be printed on different paper and have a different look and feel.  In this older version the paper color is cream, and strong enough to hold the ink without ruining the image on the other side.  My estimate is that at least two thirds of the photos are printed full-page, which in this volume is not that large.  Landscape photos suffer from being not being turned to take advantage of the full page, and others suffer further still from being printed two to a page, some even four to a page.  Each section of the book has a detail map of the area represented and the book closes with a seven-page street index.

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