66 13 April 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113
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