Famous Photographer
Eugene Atget (1857-1927) was a French photographer and printmaker. Atget was born in Libourne, near Bordeaux. Eugene was orphaned at the age of five and raised by his grandparents. As a youth, Eugene Atget was a sailor and later went from the sea to the stage. When Atget turned forty he quit acting with little success and became a painter. Around 1888, he found his true life's work as a photographer. Eugene Atget never called himself a photographer; he preferred to call himself "author-producer." Eugene Atget, probably self-trained, first worked in the Somme region in northern France and then, in 1890, settled in Paris as a commercial photographer. Those who knew Eugene Atget agree on the fact that he is strong willed and consumed with his photographic mission. Eugen called his collection of photographs “documents” of architecture and urban life. He sold his photographs to other photographers, illustrators, engravers, sculptors, set designers and painters as studies in order to support himself. He usually photographed around dawn and would carry a large-format view camera that was an outdated, cumberstone outfit, through the streets and gardens of Paris. Eugene Atget photographed many storefronts and public spaces in the nineteenth century Paris and Versailles. Many of these locations were soon torn down to make way for urbanization. Atget's work is unique on two levels. He created the great visual catalogue of the French culture as it survived in and near Paris. He was in addition a photographer of such authority and originality that his work remains a benchmark against which much of the most sophisticated contemporary photography measures itself. Atget encompassed and transcended specific facts (documentation) and individual sensibilities (self-expression) when he set himself the task of understanding and interpreting in visual terms a complex, ancient, and living tradition. Though Atget was not well known during his lifetime, his visual record of a vanishing world has become an inspiration for twentieth-century photographers. American expatriate photographers Man Ray and Berenice Abbott rescued his work from obscurity just before his death. Abbott preserved his prints and negatives, and was the first person to publish and exhibit Atget's work outside of France.
http://www.nga.gov/feature/atget/bio.shtm
http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/artists/1727/eugne-atget-french-1857-1927/
http://www.atgetphotography.com/The-Photographers/Eugene-Atget.html
http://www.nga.gov/feature/atget/bio.shtm
http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/artists/1727/eugne-atget-french-1857-1927/
http://www.atgetphotography.com/The-Photographers/Eugene-Atget.html
Five Formal Critics
Within this photo, Eugene Atget is able to portray the entryway to a hotel. In his photo there is a big door with a little entry door open that leads to into an outdoor area. The door is very detailed with circles and different designs. On top of the door is the number 47. Above the number 47 are two people sitting around what appears to be a sun. The outside bricks are fading and show the aging of the building. On the left side of the door is a single light with a plaque underneath it. This photo makes me feel like I am a tourist visiting this hotel and makes me wonder what the rest of the hotel is as beautiful as the doorway. If I was visiting this location I wound have wanted to take a picture of this door to remember this trip and the beauty within this single door. The half open door leading to another area intrigues me and makes me wonder what is back there. I want to know is there is something more beautiful with just as much or more detail as the door. Eugene Atget uses the formal element of lines which are horizontal, vertical and curved made by the door. Lines are also being made with the building and bricks. He also uses color because the photo was taken in black and white or middle gray and expansive depth of field because the entire photo is in focus. When you look through the little door the photo is as focused as the bricks on the road and on the door.
Within this photo, Eugene Atget is able to portray the beauty of an old street. In his photo there is an old hotel sign on the left side of the photo. Behind the hotel signs are buildings that are all attached to each other. All the buildings are old and warn out and appear to all be six stories high. On the other side of the street is another building that winds around a corner. this building looks older then those on the left side of the street. This photo makes me want to travel and visit other parts that less modernized and makes me realize that how simple old buildings can become a beautiful art piece. Today many of the older buildings have been torn down to make way for modernization. Eugene Atget was able to capture the beauty of these older places before they were town down. Many people overlook older buildings and pay more attention to the modern buildings. But older buildings are more intricate and unique. The detail on the buildings are very precise and beautiful. Eugene Atget uses the formal elements of color because the photo was taken in middle gray or black and white. He uses the rule of thirds by placing the hotel sign towards the corner. He could have had the hotel sign in the center of the photo but it leads the views eye up towards the left corner to view the sign. Eugene Atget also uses lines such as vertical, horizontal and curved which are made with the buildings. The road itself is a curving line because it curves around the corner of the buildings.
Within this photo, Eugene Atget is able to portray the beauty of lily pads. In his photo there are dozens of lily pads floating on water. The lily pads are all different sizes and are all in different conditions. There are flowers floating on the water and other flowers are floating on the lily pads. This photo makes me realize how beautiful nature truly is and makes me want to visit this place. Eugene Atget was able to capture such a simple thing and make it seem beautiful. I have never really paid much attention to lily pads because I have never really taken an interest in them. But now looking at his photo, he has made me realize how unique they are. His photo has made me want to travel around the world and see all these unique places and see different things in nature. Eugene Atget uses the formal elements of color because the photo was taken in black and white or middle gray. He uses reflection because the body of water the lily pads are in show the reflection from the trees surrounding it. Eugene Atget uses expansive depth of field because all the lily pads are in focus and not blurry. The lily pads in the very back are not blurred but because of the angel of the photo it is hard to see the distinct difference between each lily pad.
Within this photo, Eugene Atget is able to portray the concept of an old Paris staircase. In the center of this photo is a winding staircase with brace or wood arm railings with intricate designs on them. At the end of the hallway to the left of the stairs is a closed door. To the right of the stairs are old trunks or boxes and a statue tucked under an arch. Eugene Atget is able to capture the beauty within a simple staircase. There are two windows on the left wall with light shinning through them. This photo makes me feel like I am looking at an old castle or someone’s house that was important during a different era. I feel like this because of all the detail within the architecture. The arches and winding stair case make this house/ building seem more formal and elegant. The door at the end of the hallway intrigues me and makes me wonder about what is behind the close door. Eugene Atget is able to capture the formal elements of color, lines and emphasis within his picture. The picture is taking in black and white or middle gray and different lines are seen throughout the picture such as vertical, horizontal, curved and s-curved lines. Vertical lines are seen on the ceiling and horizontal lines are made with the stair steps. Curved lines made with the arches and s-curved lines are made with the winding staircase and railing. Atget places emphasis on the staircase by placing them in the center of the picture with nothing else in the center and by having the light coming from the windows shine directly on the stairs.
Within this photo, Eugene Atget is able to portray the beauty of a small white building. In his photo there is a white building in the center and pond of water in front of it. The white building is single storied and curves around the pond. On top of the building are two little statues. There appears to be a statue inside the pond. To the sides and behind the building are big trees.the trees surround the building but there is an opening in the sky directly above the building. The image of the building and trees are reflected into the pond in front of it. This photo makes me feel like a tourist looking at a capital building and makes me realize how beautiful a simple building can be. This photo reminds me of the reflecting pool and the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. Just as the Lincoln Memorial reflects into the reflecting pool, this building reflects into the pond in front of it. Eugene Atget uses the formal elements of color because the photo was taken in black and white or middle gray. He uses the rule of thirds by placing the end of the water at the horizon line. Eugene Atget also uses reflection with the water from the pond which reflects the image of the building and trees.