1.
Paris as it Was

2.
<ul><li>Born: February 12, 1857 </li></ul><ul><li>Died: August 4, 1927 </li></ul><ul><li>Painter, actor, before photographer </li></ul><ul><li>Concerned with photographing Paris as it was not as it was becoming. </li></ul>

3.
<ul><li>He was the maker of a great visual catalogue of the fruits of French culture, as it survived in and near Paris in the first quarter of the 20 th century. He was in addition a photographer of such authority and originality that his work remains a bench mark against which much of the most sophisticated contemporary photography measures itself. </li></ul>

4.
<ul><li>pictures were often sold to painters as studies. </li></ul><ul><li>did not receive recognition during his lifetime. </li></ul>

5.
<ul><li>Recorded images in and around Versailles. </li></ul><ul><li>Angle of view was very important to Atget. </li></ul><ul><li>Made many different exposures of same subject to get best angle view. </li></ul>

6.
<ul><li>Eembraced the emerging art of photography. </li></ul><ul><li>Set for himself a goal to document every aspect of French civilization which he considered artistic or picturesque. </li></ul><ul><li>Laboring alone and in relative obscurity for 25 years, </li></ul><ul><li>3,500 photographs of the architecture, decoration and scenic urban life of Paris. </li></ul><ul><li>Considered the quintessential views of Paris at the turn of the nineteenth century. </li></ul>

7.
<ul><li>He succeeded in looking beyond photography and found the essence of things. </li></ul><ul><li>This enabled him to express himself in a totally personal way and distinguish himself from his contemporaries. </li></ul><ul><li>Breaking from the rigid and uninspired conventions of his time, Atget rejected both the panoramic and the bird's eye view. </li></ul>

8.
<ul><li>In his photographs, the architecture is seen from the perspective of a pedestrian, allowing the specific character of the building to be isolated and savored. </li></ul><ul><li>Where others had generalized and summarized, Atget revealed what was specific and unique. </li></ul>