Eugene Atget Photographer - ACE118.5

Atget setting up camera and taking photographs. Abbott VO says that his photographic method was very straightforward: "he concentrated on the more important problem of seeing and selecting". Narrator on Atget’s camera, Abbott describes the results of his technique; Narrator says his concern was with the image. Photographs including Au petit Dunkerque, 3 quai Conti and Eclipse, 1911 (1911). Abbott’s VO says that Atget was "inescapably drawn into an ever-increasing awareness of [Paris’s] vast history. Photographs including Pont Neuf and Pool, Parc de Sceaux. Narrator says that Atget satisfied the requirements of his clients but could also "express a particular view of French culture" which he saw in the work of the artists and architects who had built the city. Photographs including Rampe de l’escalier de l’hôtel Sully-Charost, 11 rue du Cherche-Midi (1904-1905), Puits 5 rue du Figuier, Rue Mouffetard (1925), Au Port Salut - Cabaret Rue des Fosses St. Jacques; and Rue de la Colonie (1900). Atget in park, examining tree; Abbott’s VO suggesting that Atget considered the tree to be "a symbol of himself" and describes them as having "survived the blows of time…" Photographs of trees. Narrator says Atget would return to favourite subjects, sometimes after a gap of several years. Interiors c.1910 including Interieur ouvrier, rue de Romainville and one which is probably (says Narrator) Atget’s own apartment in the rue Campagne Première c.1899. Atget and Madame at home, he looking for an edition of radical newspaper La Guerre Sociale (raided by the police in 1911), which he packages up with others to give to a Paris library at the time of the trial of the editors. Atget with dealer; heritage was a popular cause with those of a more conservative stance whose politics would have been at odds with his own. Atget walking among trees, and beside fountain. Abbott’s VO says the lack of understanding of his work made Atget more introspective. Narrator talks about the war: Atget with camera – passerby accuses him of being a spy. In the park; Narrator suggests that the death of Madame Atget’s son caused him to stop work until 1919. Atget trying to sell his work to customers outside a café. Atget and Madame at home: he looks through his photographs which were going out of fashion.