By Megan Dickerson
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
For the photographer Eugène Atget, Paris was a living
organism.
The groundbreaking photographer knew that Paris, like any other
municipality at the turn of the 19th century, lived and breathed a
dichotomy of existence; bountiful storefronts bordered the carts of
lonely ragpickers, while children’s dolls sold at a
premium.
At a new exhibit at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Atget’s
photos show the carefully decorated homes of the poor, as well as
the daunting expanses of the city’s tall buildings.
Storefront windows cast longing glances at a world galvanized
and degraded by new technology.
“The Man in the Street: Eugène Atget in Paris”
explores the lively world of Atget, emphasizing his ability to
capture not just a moment in time but also the movements of a
legendary city.
The exhibit (and a concurrent display of Atget’s
contemporaries) makes a legend out of a man who, though largely
unrecognized during his lifetime, laid the groundwork for
photographers such as Man Ray and Walker Evans.
But, despite the show’s labeled accent on Atget’s
biography and technique, in the end it is Paris ““ the city
Atget loved ““ that remains the star of the show.
Atget’s Paris is not the Paris of sly burlesque and
berets. On the contrary, Atget’s Paris is gritty and real,
much like the American cities Walker Evans later portrayed during
the Great Depression. After all, Atget came from hearty but
artistic roots ““ an actor and a seaman, he stayed in touch
with the people. He became known for combing the streets of Paris,
unwieldy camera in tow, and became a tolerated fixture of the city
scene.
Before there was a “Man with a Movie Camera,” there
was a man with two bags of heavy plate glass and an awkward photo
camera. The results of his labors are quietly stunning.
Atget took the chance to capture Paris from the casual
stroller’s viewpoint, much like his Impressionist
counterparts. Some historians insist on labeling Atget a
surrealist, though his work bears the mark of a realistic
documentarian. But what better tool than the camera to show the
skewed surrealism of daily life?
Atget’s street-walking produced an everyman’s view
of an exciting Paris. He brings 21st century viewers into a
fleeting moment, whether it be the ghost of a man entering a store
with a wheelbarrow, or a little girl standing by a staircase.
Nearly all his photographs are from street level, as if we, the
viewers, are the ragpickers he photographs wandering through the
narrow streets.
Atget thus gives us the city moments we all take for granted.
His work reminds viewers that every city has a unique heartbeat,
something incredibly relevant and often taken for granted in a
place like Los Angeles.
It also inspires thoughts of contemporary counterparts. How
would Atget see, for instance, a place like a Southern California
shopping mall?
Sometimes Atget’s work seems to show only the shells of
human existence, with storefronts outnumbering people. Here is
where Atget again treats Paris as a living organism, with
storefronts acting as the city’s eyes, staring at passersby
with visages either vacant or bountiful.
Moreover, the storefront windows reflect the people of a city
both literally and figuratively. What wares we choose to highlight
says something about our values. A great contrast is made in three
photographs, placed relatively close to one another in the Getty
exhibit.
One features the Au Bebe Bon Marche, a toy store, which offers a
dazzling array of adoptable dolls, arms outstretched to passersby.
Another photograph shows a prostitute leaning in a store doorway,
her skirt dangerously high for the time.
Finally, a third, cleverly executed photograph shows a group of
female mannequins in a clothing store, with the window reflecting
trees from across the street.
Together, they convey a quiet critique of everything a culture
sells, from inanimate dolls to living women.
Yet Atget’s work still keeps the emotional distance of a
true documentarian. He enforces no overt message upon his viewers,
making the comparisons, contrasts, and sometime-revelations
produced by his work personal to the viewer. Atget hands us raw
material, and we provide the connections. After all, isn’t
that what a city itself is supposed to do?
Like a real-life sparring partner, a living, breathing city
challenges its inhabitants to translate its streets to metaphor,
allowing them to leave the city boundaries with new ideas.
Atget’s city, as seen through the Getty exhibit, does just
that. With Atget as a guide, we see a Paris with a mournful soul.
Grimy, dark and abandoned at times, Paris comes off as achingly
beautiful. Like the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand
words. In this case, it might be true.
ART: “The Man in the Street: Eugene Atget in Paris”
runs at the Getty Museum through October 8. The museum is open
Tuesday and Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Thursday and Friday
from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6
p.m. Admission is free, and parking reservations are unnecessary
for college students with ID. For more information, call (310)
440-7300.