Amateur Photographer (2019-04-13)

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Legends

of photography

T

owardstheend

ofthefamous

We st er n,TheMan

whoShotLiberty

Va la nc e(Paramount,1962),

thenewspapermanMaxwell

Scottdeliverstheline,‘Thisis

theWest,sir.Whenthelegend

becomesfact,printthelegend.’

EugèneAtget(1857-1927)is

a particularlyfitcandidatefor

thiscolumn,asthefocusof

bothanAmericanLegend

anda significantlymore

interestingEuropeanTruth.

TheAmericanLegend

stresses the importance of

Eugène

Atget

twoAmericanphotographers,

BereniceAbbott(1898-1991)

andManRay(1890-1976),

partofa smallandoften

pretentiouscliqueofartistsin

Parisinthemidtolate1920s.

Decadesbefore,afterall,Oscar

Wildehadsaid,‘Whengood

Americansdie,theygotoParis’

(ThePictureofDorianGray,

1891).BadAmericans,hehad

added,wenttoAmerica.This

clique,whichalsoincluded

MatisseandPicasso,hasbeen

describedas‘thefirstto

discoverhisgenius’.Theywere

not lacking in talent: merely in

financiallyindependent.

Thereafterhephotographed

whateverhepleased,remaining

faithfultothe18x24cmformat.

ReputedlyManRaytriedto

lendhima ‘moremodern’

camerabutAtgetpreferred

thecameraheknew– andas

hewasphotographingforhis

ownpleasure,hehadnoreason

tochange.Shootingwhatever

youlikeon20x24cm,the

Continentalversionof8x10in

or20x25cm,doesnotexactly

soundlikepovertyand

obscurity.Buthehad

succeededonhisownterms,

whichdidnotsuitthe

AmericanLegend.

WhenhemetAbbottin1925,

shewasinherlate20s;Ray

(aneighbour)wasinhis30s;

andAtgetwasalreadywellinto

his60s.Hehadestablished

himselfasa photographerat

aboutthesameageasAbbott

andRay,ora littleolder,and

anassociationwiththetwo

youngerphotographersmust

havebeenpleasing.Buthewas

theonewhomadethem(or

atleastAbbott)famous,

not vice versa.

Thispioneeringmasterwasthefocus

ofbothanAmericanLegendanda

European Truth, writesRoger Hicks

humility.Readingtheir

version,youmightthinkthat

theyhadrescuedhimnot

onlyfromobscuritybutalso

poverty:referencesaboundto

his‘primitive’camerawithits

bellowsandwoodenbody.

Onhisownterms

TheEuropeanTruthis

rathermoreinteresting,and

considerablymoreflatteringto

Atget.Afterthesortofdiffuse

startwhichbefallsmany

photographers– themerchant

navy,thestage,paintingand

more– hehadsettledupon

photographyin 1890 and

hadalreadyhada longand

successfulcareerwithsuch

clientsastheMuséeCarnavalet

andtheBibliothèque

HistoriquedelaVilledeParis.

In 1906 thelatterhad

commissionedhimto

photograph‘OldParis’,a task

uponwhichhehadalready

enthusiasticallyembarkedin

the1890s.In1920-1921,inhis

early60s,hewasabletosell

thousandsofhisnegativesto

variousinstitutionsforenough

money to make himself

© Al Amy Stock Photo

Prostitutesatthe
cornerofthe
boulevarddela
Chapelleandtherue
© corbiS viA Gett y imAGeSFleury in Paris, 1921