Eugène Atget

(1857-1927)

Eugène Atget (12 February 1857 – 4 August 1927) was a French flâneur and a pioneer of documentary photography, noted for his determination to document all of the architecture and street scenes of Paris before their disappearance to modernization. Most of his photographs were first published by Berenice Abbott after his death. Though he sold his work to artists and craftspeople, and became an inspiration for the surrealists, he did not live to see the wide acclaim his work would eventually receive.

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Projects

Lampshade Seller, 1899-1900. Collection of The Museum of Modern Art. Image courtesy of MoMA.

Picturesque Paris: Street Trades

Visual documentation of street work and commerce in early twentieth-century Paris.

Boulevard de Strasbourg, corsets, 1912. Collection of The Museum of Modern Art. Image courtesy of MoMA.

Picturesque Paris: Shop Signs and Old Boutiques of Paris

Typological exploration of Parisian shop windows from the 1910s, capturing the tension between traditional retail spaces and the emerging consumer culture.

Lambert Circus, Fête de la Villette (Street Fair), 1926. Collection of The Museum of Modern Art. Image courtesy of MoMA.

Parisian Fairs

Parisian fairs during the Belle Époque, highlighting the intersection of tradition and modernity in urban leisure culture.

Interior of Madame D., Landlady, Boulevard de Port-Royal, 1910. Image courtesy of Ville de Paris / BHVP / Roger-Viollet.

Parisian Interiors

Domestic spaces of the early 20th century, reflecting the social stratification and decorative preferences of Parisian society during a period of transformation.