Paris, the City of Light, has captured the imagination of photographers for more than 150 years, its buildings and monuments, bustling street life, and legendary beauty acting as constant inspiration to major photographers throughout the decades. The city, however, has served as more than merely a scenic backdrop, for Paris was photography's birthplace and has influenced its growth at every stage.
The City and Its Photographers looks for the first time at the history of photography and the part that Paris played in its development. The book is divided into four sections, the first of which follows the early years of photography when, after the announcement of Daguerre's momentous invention in 1839, increasing numbers of photographers could be seen carrying their cumbersome equipment around the city's streets. They documented medieval Old Paris, with its dark, winding alleyways; then, following the grand-scale demolition and rebuilding instigated by Napoleon III, they were the first to record the broad, tree-lined boulevards and fashionable cafes that are so familiar today.
The second section begins in 1889 when, with the advent of the hand-held Kodak camera, photography became the province of the amateur as well as the professional. Over the next thirty years, snapshots of an ever more elegant Paris were placed in the family album alongside pictures of the latest wedding or christening. This was also the time, though, of Bohemian cafe society and of Atget, who, with tripod and black cape, spent the greater part of his life documenting the city.
The third part describes how, after the First World War, photography needed new impetus, which it found with the arrival in Paris of Duchamp and the Dadaists, and the growth of Surrealism with Man Ray. In addition, photographers such as Kertesz, Brassai, Ilse Bing, and Lee Miller came to Paris to work, pushing the medium to its limits.
The final section includes the founding of the Magnum Agency and the influence of Capa, Cartier-Bresson, and humanist photography. These are the years, too, of the Paris populaire of Doisneau, Izis, and Boubat; the Seine and its lovers, the cafes and fun-fairs... .It is the period, finally, of the last of the old Paris, and with the demonstrations of 1968 comes the end of an era.
The photographs have been carefully chosen to encapsulate the style of their period. Each picture provides a unique record of the history of Paris; as a collection they evoke a Paris of decades past and are a lasting reminder of the artistry of their creators.
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