Eugène Atget: Photographs of Old France

Serpentine South Gallery 25 Feb — 25 Mar 1984 Free

An exhibition of photographs by Eugène Atget, featuring photographs taken in the Ile-de-France.

During his lifetime, the pioneering French documentary photographer Atget (1857-1927) made as many as 10,000 photographs. Atget gained fame (mostly after his death) for his tireless efforts to document the historic character of French daily life as Modernity superceded it.

Most of the photographs in the exhibition were taken in the Ile-de-France, the country’s ancient heartland and depicted the region’s natural landscapes, buildings, streets, shops, cafés, and people.

The 125 photographs on display were drawn from all periods of Atget’s career, offering an insight into his development as a photographer, as well as into the changes affecting French society as the 19th century gave way to the 20th.

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