OVER 100 IMAGES captured by French photographer Eugène Atget taken during the late 19th and early 20th centuries have gone on display at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
The photographer’s evocative images of the Parisian streets were taken to serve as source material for other artists to use when creating their own work. These intentions are reflected in the exhibition’s title ‘Documents pour artistes’, taken from the sign above the photographer’s studio.
Atget captured thousands of images in a career that spanned more than three decades. His particular focus was on the French capital’s fifth arrondissement. According to the MoMA’s curators, Atget never once photographed the Eiffel Tower, preferring to focus on the more mundane scenes of the city.
With permission from the MoMA, here are some of Atget’s images from the current exhibition, which runs until 9 April:
Rue de la Montagne-Sainte-Geneviève, June 1925
Romanichels, groupe, 1912
Marchand de paniers en fil de fer, 1899-1900
Maison où Mourut Voltaire en 1778, 1 rue de Beaune, 1909
Fête du Trône, 1925
Fête de Vaugirard, 1926
Cour, 41 rue Broca, 1912
Cour, 7 rue de Valence, June 1922
Coin, Boulevard de la Chapelle et rue Fleury 76,18e, June 1921
Balcon, 17 rue du Petit-Pont, 1913
Luxembourg, 1923-25
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