Rue des Peupliers, Butte-aux-Cailles,
Eugène Atget
French, 1857–1927
1900
A quiet street photograph printed as an albumen silver print in which Eugène Atget methodically records an unadorned corner of Paris, aiming to preserve everyday urban scenes with clear, documentary attention.
The view arrests you with its empty, receding lane framed by a slatted fence on one side, a low stone wall on the other, and a solitary gas lamp that punctuates the muted, atmospheric distance toward a single distant chimney.
Atget’s steady, unsentimental images helped define documentary photography by preserving the disappearing fabric of Parisian life and influencing modern photographers and artists interested in the ordinary and the photographed city.
Medium
Albumen silver print
Dimensions
Approx. 7 × 8 7/8" (17.8 × 22.5 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Abbott-Levy Collection. Acquired through the generosity of Shirley C. Burden, and Family of Man Fund
Accession
1.1969.1691
Palette
Exhibitions
