February 12, 1857

We have biographical notes about the photographer who captured the above shot. We see in the statue the ambition of this artist to document a disappearing Paris, and he succeeded in a way which made him famous. Such a summary was not foreordained, for Eugene Atget (February 12, 1857 to August 4, 1927).

'Jean Eugène Auguste Atget was born in Libourne (France) to working-class parents, Jean-Eugène Atget, a carriage maker and saddler, and Clara-Adeline Atget. His father changed careers to be a traveling salesman only to die a few years later on business. Shortly after, his mother, Clara, died as well. Faced with a harsh and unforgiving childhood, which left him orphaned at the age of five-years-old, he was raised by his elderly grandparents, Victoire and Auguste Hourlier, who lived in Bordeaux, France. Atget soon joined the seafaring life as a cabin boy.

'In 1878, Atget moved to Paris and applied to France's most important acting school, the National Conservatory of Music and Drama. He poured all his hope into this opportunity since he had little money and was also living in a dingy part of town. Sadly, he was not only rejected by the acting school but was then drafted into the army for five compulsory years of service. Atget, determined to make a career for himself in acting, reapplied and was accepted one year later. His future in acting looked bright according to his mentor and famous actor, Edmond Got. However, his short stature of 5'5" did not lend itself to an ideal presence on stage, and Edmond Got later described Atget as having an, "inelegant accent." In a series of unfortunate events, he was dismissed before graduation in 1881 and in the same year, his grandparents died.'

He did then find photography and supported himself, though he insisted on doing some things the old and harder way.

'At a time when photography was quickly becoming well-known for its documentary purposes, Atget setup his own studio in Paris in 1890. He displayed a sign that advertised his photography as Documents pour artistes (Documents for artists), selling photos of landscapes, flowers, monuments, and the like. His work did not just serve artists, but also set decorators, historians, metal smiths, publishers, and later, national institutions. Atget soon found his life's work in documenting old Paris beginning in 1897. Thanks to the Baron Haussmann public works and buildings renovations that swept Paris at the end of the 19th century, Paris was a vastly changing city that saw the demolition of old buildings and streets destroyed by war to make way for more modern architecture. Atget sought to capture architecture and decoration in his photography before it was forever gone.

'Though his impetus to capture a changing Paris was done all on his own accord, he had also found a business niche where he could earn a living wage. He remained frugal in his lifestyle, never throwing away paper that was not completely used, wearing old clothes and sustaining himself off of a prudent diet of bread and milk (because of digestive problems, but also, he said, because anything more was "immoderate luxury"). One of his friends described him as 'intransigent, obstinate, and independent.' His stubborn personality and thrifty nature led him to also embrace the old photographic technologies like the cumbersome, tripod-mounted view camera that used glass plates. He took this very large camera along with him outside and used it on a regular basis rather than the available hand-held cameras. The same went for the film he used, albumen paper was just as outdated as the tripod camera. When the film ceased to be manufactured, Atget nonetheless was still able to find the film and print using albumen.'

Ansel Adams provides a fitting conclusion to this essay about Eugene Atget. In 1931, four years after Atget’s death, the American photographer wrote, “The Atget prints are direct and emotionally clean records of a rare and subtle perception, and represent perhaps the earliest expression of true photographic art."