184 - Eugène ATGET (1857–1927)

Eugène ATGET (1857–1927) Porte d'Ivry, Zoniers (13th arrondissement), 1912 A family of Zoniers in front of their trailer with molded panels: a man sitting at the foot of the wooden staircase, a little girl on a stool, a child in motion (blurred), a woman sitting in a wicker armchair on the right, other trailers and shacks, a milk can in the foreground; the National Library’s stamp is visible in the image. Silver print 18.2 x 23.8 cm Inscription on the reverse: Annotations: “Porte d’Ivry 1912 (13th Arrondissement)” in ink; “1) Ensemble” crossed out and replaced with “Zoniers”; in pencil: “Print number in the lower right corner cut off 339 / 9,158 - G.045796 (microfilm),” “Photo 1”; “3” underlined; framing sketch marked “2)” Provenance: former Jean-Marie Drot collection Born in Libourne in 1857, Eugène Atget worked as a sailor and then as an actor before devoting himself to photography around 1890. Settling on Rue Campagne-Première, he produced “documents for artists” and spent nearly forty years photographing old Paris: streets, courtyards, storefronts, signs, small trades, parks, and interiors. His thousands of photographs were acquired by the National Library, the Carnavalet Museum, and the Historic Monuments department, which saw them as a record of a city in the process of disappearing. Man Ray and the Surrealists, followed by Berenice Abbott—who saved a large portion of his collection—revealed the poetic dimension of his work. He died in Paris in 1927 and is considered one of the fathers of modern documentary photography.