Eugène Atget art photographs & prints

Eugène Atget was born in Libourne on 12 February 1857.

He was a leading French photographer of the 19th century who documented the city of Paris. Wanting above all else to be an actor, nothing initially marked Atget out as an artist in a field such as photography. After abandoning his dream of treading the boards, he initially made his name as a painter when success was not forthcoming, as he was keen to remain in an artistic milieu. He nevertheless soon put down his paintbrushes in favour of a camera, capturing every corner of Paris and documenting the city of artists. His works are now highly prized and enormously important in terms of their historical value, yet, during his lifetime Eugène Atget lived in an extremely precarious situation. This eye-witness account of a bygone Paris reveals the photographer's love for this picturesque city of the late 19th and early 20th century.

Eugène Atget died in Paris on 4 August 1927 in poverty.