Eugene Atget

Happy Birthday Eugene Atget!! Born in France in 1857, Atget was a little known photographer. After becoming an orphan, he was raised by his uncle from age 7 and eventually became a ship boy for a time and then briefly moved into acting. Although he did not remain an actor for long, he did meet Valentine De Lafosse, an actress, whom he married and spent the rest of his life with. Settling in Paris in the 1890’s, he began to photograph architectural scenes and sell them to artists. It was popular at the time, for artists to paint from photos, and Atget was able to capitalize on this, creating over 10,000 photographs. His work remained fairly obscure until Bernice Abbott (a portrait photographer and art connoisseur) began to promote his work to the rest of the world. The view of Paris included here is typical of Atget's style: misty, mysterious nostalgic images.