Eugène Atget and documentary photography of the city
Eugène Atget and documentary photography of the city
This paper focuses on the documentary photography of Eugène Atget in late 19th and early 20th century Paris. I will begin by exploring Atget’s position as a pioneering documentary photographer in the field, followed by an engagement with the urban environment of Paris, in which Atget worked almost exclusively. Finally, I will analyse a single photograph in depth while discussing it in relation to the work of Charles Baudelaire and Jacques Rancière. This text is a contribution to a literature of critical engagement with documentary photography, urban history and the politics of class visibility. I will do so by arguing for the political significance of reading Atget’s images in a critical, political manner that engages with Rancière’s concept of the ‘anonymous multiple’. Atget is considered a key documentary photographer, and, as such, he is exemplary of the history of documentary photography and its treatment of its subjects.
Charles Baudelaire, Eugène Atget, Jacques Rancière, documentary photography, social theory, urban space
Rizov, Vladimir
45f60f7b-f8c5-45c8-9d9e-22b8d2965ecc
Rizov, Vladimir
45f60f7b-f8c5-45c8-9d9e-22b8d2965ecc
Abstract
This paper focuses on the documentary photography of Eugène Atget in late 19th and early 20th century Paris. I will begin by exploring Atget’s position as a pioneering documentary photographer in the field, followed by an engagement with the urban environment of Paris, in which Atget worked almost exclusively. Finally, I will analyse a single photograph in depth while discussing it in relation to the work of Charles Baudelaire and Jacques Rancière. This text is a contribution to a literature of critical engagement with documentary photography, urban history and the politics of class visibility. I will do so by arguing for the political significance of reading Atget’s images in a critical, political manner that engages with Rancière’s concept of the ‘anonymous multiple’. Atget is considered a key documentary photographer, and, as such, he is exemplary of the history of documentary photography and its treatment of its subjects.
Text
Eugène Atget and Documentary Photography of the City - TCS (accepted, pre-proof)
- Accepted Manuscript
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Accepted/In Press date: 23 June 2020
e-pub ahead of print date: 10 September 2020
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Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020.
Keywords:
Charles Baudelaire, Eugène Atget, Jacques Rancière, documentary photography, social theory, urban space
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Local EPrints ID: 442067
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/442067
ISSN: 0263-2764
PURE UUID: adc2dab6-2323-4951-a01c-2ecd0be49d99
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Date deposited: 06 Jul 2020 16:36
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 04:11
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Author:
Vladimir Rizov
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