Paris before it was ruined

[@ratgirl13]

Much like Times Square, NYC before it was ruined…I photographed the nitty gritty of 42nd street back in the mid 1975 to the late 1980’s when it was dangerous and interesting, exciting and fun.

[@dangilmore9724]

I've been working on a project called "The Vanishing South" where I am collecting images of things that are not so slowly being erased in the American South. There seems to be a growing mania of destruction of all things "old" and historical. It's happening so fast that if I miss a photo of something today, ot may literally be gone tomorrow.

[@gardnep]

Argent was a gift to Paris. There is still plenty left. I learnt that Paris is a place of large beautiful doors. I wandered those streets with my late wife in 2019 and stumbled behind one door to find a courtyard with a building stacked with old magazines, it was the museum of journalism.

[@ArtDecoArtNouveau]

I lived in Paris for 5 years from 2009 to 2014 and I agree that there is still plenty of the "old" Paris left and that it is a truly beautiful city.

[@tedgoldman9121]

When you spoke of photographing things that will be destroyed, it made me think that this is what most street photography is about- capturing a moment in time that is immediately destroyed. Yes, different from your subject, but inherently photography is about preservation. Thanks for another thought provoking video!

[@trishf29]

Thank you, Alex, for this lovely video. I adore Atget, had a book on his works and lost it. I‘d spent nearly two years in Paris and that‘s what prompted me to buy it. As a former historian, I‘m always interested in before/after photos of certain street/city scenes. Seeing these works again took me back. Paris is certainly not the same anymore. Haussmann was the fellow who reconstructed the streets, making them the width they are today, and knocking down the old buildings in the process. He has a Boulevard named after him.

[@mhsvz6735]

Thank God for photographers like Eugene Atget and his desire to capture that which was soon lost. And thank you for introducing me to him.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Your welcome

[@scottsoutter7271]

Glad to see Atget, though I am not entirely sure how he could be described as “an unsung hero of photography”. After seeing a few retrospectives I would put him in the sung category as someone well appreciated for the pioneering work he created. . I do agree that having his view of lost Paris is a gift.

[@65WZ]

This made me think of compiling old family photographs from all relatives, into one photobook. Then distributing the photobook back to all relatives.

[@tommorgan3125]

If you enjoy photography then you will enjoy this video....excellent!

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thank you

[@johnclay7644]

great photographer some classic images informative photography content.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Many thanks!

[@robscovell5951]

It's remarkable how many photographers, myself included, are drawn to scenes of picturesque decay. My sister-in-law thinks I'm seriously weird because of this.

[@johnblunt1834]

Your sister's probably right, but then I do the same thing 😀!

[@timccphoto]

I do the same. I find that so much of our newly built world is painfully homogenous but everything ages and gets used in it's own distinct way. That is what I think we are drawn to. The story of a place written in faded paint and cracked masonry.

[@robscovell5951]

@@timccphotoIt's remarkable how even brutalist architecture from the 70s acquires a distinct patina. I recently photographed a 1970s Yugoslav shopping centre in the centre of Skopje, the GTC Shopping Centre, although if I had visited it in the 70s I would have hated it.

[@PhotogAbby]

Before I went to Paris a number of years ago I devoured every Atget photo I could find. It made a huge difference to my appreciation of the city.

[@the_rat_run]

Atget's photographs capture the spirit of the subject, brilliant work, loved it, thanks Alex.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Many thanks!

[@arneheeringa96]

He probably needed to use long exposure times. In some pictures you see washed people. In 1989 I took a picture in the park of Versailles that is almost the same as one Atget took in 1904, before even hearing about him. At least that has stayed the same. You would probably also like the pictures of dutch photographers George Hendrik Breitner (who also was a well known painter) and Jacob Olie.

[@JS-wz3km]

Love your Secession chruch image Alex, thanks for sharing that

[@thomasocheltree4170]

Thanks!

[@angelamaloney4871]

I’m currently traveling in Australia, so I’m not buying many books except books about Australian art and artists. But Paris Changing: Revisiting Eugene Atget’s Paris has been added to my Amazon shopping cart for when I return to the U.S. Robert Adams had a show at the U.S. National Art Gallery just recently called American Silence. It was interesting to see your take on his work. The exhibit catalogue is available and well worth a purchase. It was a fabulous showing of his work.

[@tsbrownie]

The ASA/ISO of glass plates was somewhere around 1/2 to 1. With a small stop and very long exposure, people might not be visible. What is sad is that with digital photography, one won't be finding 100 year old negatives. Images will "evaporate" with very little time.

[@Lebowski_Jeffrey]

I love the show. And I love” how’s it how’s it”.

[@HessRoyale]

Loved this video. Thanks mate. Powerful photos

[@1967davidsrebrnik]

I believe the reason there is no one is the very long exposure. The very first person photographed was a man reading his newspaper in the street. I have a special lens for my sinar that doesn't need to be "recharged" and when I did my end of studies work, in architectural photography, I used a technique that is to devid the exposure time into many very short ones and therefore there are no people on my photo's.

[@bobmitchel664]

Thanks for bringing this to us. These are just remarkable photographs.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thanks for watching

[@bondgabebond4907]

Some wonder why photography. In a way, its a documenting a slice of time, whether it is a person(s) or thing like buildings, airplanes, ships, stores, cars. It's a way to prevent us from forgetting the past and where we came from. Seeing the house frame with a street sign reminded me of a picture my dad took of our future home from nothing to a finished product. I am so glad I have those photos. They will be passed down to my family as time consumes us.

[@TommyBoy3D]

4:14, 4:34, 5:38 are people. Actually, I see people as ghostly images due to the long exposure in other frames too. If long enough exposure, they actually just disappear. I think there are more people in these photos than meets the eye. Just a guess but Sergio gives a whole tutorial on how to make people disappear......crowds of people actually. Great post! And some great work of your own Sir.

[@lukjs5239]

Thank you Alex Great video. Something different and inspiring

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@renategorke4574]

What an interesting photographer. Yes there is quietness and together with the decent music it puts you into a mindful Walk through another Paris. In all it‘s quietness you just feel the vibrance of life just behind it. I see that in your photographs of Edinburgh too. These are comfortably lived in streets that don‘t want to show off and are what they are… portraits in it‘s own right and truthfulness 🙂

[@ChrisHunt4497]

Beautiful photographs. The colours, the textures and the atmosphere and how we try to emulate them even today. Thanks for sharing, Alex.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

My pleasure!

[@cmichaelhaugh8517]

Fascinating history!

[@darylneumann8636]

Excellent story. It certainly is amazing to follow famous photographers of the past.

[@andrewcroft2570]

Great insight into an extraordinary photographer.

[@richardstockham4320]

Last time I looked around a bit at a collection of Atget’s pictures I felt a bit lost, a bit foreign without a translation. This was quite helpful. Thanks.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Glad it helped.

[@samhardy2038]

Excellent Loved this.

[@dallasthomas9298]

Brilliant Alex, I've been a fan of Atget for a few years I find his images to be so sublime.Having visited Paris many times I have gone out and found a few of his locations which was fascinating. Thanks for your great videos keep up the great work.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Many thanks!

[@andrewgallup3890]

Having just finished a week in northern New Mexico purposefully stumbling through (photographically) an area where Ansel Adams worked, this video complicated things as it demands I look closer at what he was doing and what I thought I was doing. So again, thanks for complicating my life. 🙃

[@andrewfoto]

If you get past the easiest to find and frequently used pictures in his archive, people and animals show up in the margins. Sometimes even as the foreground subject (the zoners for example). Nice presentation here, I liked how you connected various other photographers.

[@paulmcdade9849]

Thomas Annan and Oscar Marzarolli spring to mind, two photographers that done the same to my own home city Glasgow, in two different eras. Thomas Annan in the 1870s and then Oscar Marzarolli in the 1960s- early 80s.

[@seaeagles6025]

Hi Alex, it was great to see Paris from Yesteryear, photography is really powerful. It's not just about taking a picture but how powerful and memorable that photo will be in years to come. Like the photos we take now they will have great meaning in the future. Thank you for introducing us to more photographers that we haven't heard of before. 😃

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thanks for watching

[@seaeagles6025]

@@ThePhotographicEye Your very welcome Alex 🙂

[@Rob.1340]

Thank you. 👍📷😎

[@donaldgibson1642]

Thank you...

[@robgutkowski7141]

Though I live in a small rural town near a small city, the changes taking place here have caused me to take a lot of pictures locally before those views and ways of life vanish.

[@KaiTheMessenger]

Very well done. Much appreciated.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thank you

[@richardcoomber925]

We should learn the lesson and photograph the everyday for future generations

[@jamesbarnes3063]

I enjoy every video, thank you

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thank you for watching

[@alyahyai]

Never thought Paris looked like you presented it today! So thank you Alex for the marvelous tour.🙏🏻 With Google Street View, I would imagine much of the world streets are kept on record 🙂

[@ThePhotographicEye]

My pleasure!

[@scotskinner4350]

Earlier this week I returned Robert Adams "American Silence" to the library. I'm hoping to get out and do some street photography later this week, so this video was timely. Thank you, Alex.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thanks for watching

[@tonyhayes9827]

As I approach retirement I absolutely feel myself as part of this crumbling decrepit life of ours (lol! but seriously...) Agree about the quietness; it's contemplative; a part of us killed off by social media. And it's not age; Ive been like this all my life. We have a `fee'l for the ethereal because the ethereal, whatever it is, is real. Loved Greyfriar's Bobby BTW

[@FlyFishingProf]

Very interesting photographer. Florence Italy also has a well known photography company called ‘Fratelli Alinari’, which began to document Florence in 1851. Some semblance of the company still exists and you can buy photographs from the original negatives from them. Their original prints used the -"collodion wet plate process".

[@enricomarconi8358]

No, I’m sorry perhaps you don’t know about this. There were a bunch of cities where people where people are absolutely absent. And judging from the shadows it’s 11am (I’m referring to St. Petersburg or Moscow or Helsinki or even San Francisco). It’s a complexed topic to explain on a short comment but these were at some point ghost towns.

[@Martin_Siegel]

When I look at pic at 2:39 I know where Jacques Tati got his inspiration from for the uncles flat in Mon Oncle

[@georgesmelon2038]

Thanks a lot for this very interesting video, as always. Kind comment about french pronunciation : "è" in Eugène and "et" in Aget, you can quietly pronounce as "ai" in again

[@robscovell5951]

My gosh, I must have passed "Harvey's Furniture Stores" a million times in the 1990s and never seen it. Which book shop did you work in on George IV bridge?

[@ThePhotographicEye]

It was Bauermeisters. The bit that’s now an Italian restaurant.

[@ThePurpleHarpoon]

A photograph need not be good to be beautiful.

[@rsmallfield]

Also Marville, earlier.

[@johnblunt1834]

It's clinical. But it's the unobtainable of tomorrow?

[@tooltool5824]

Haussmann it’s pronounced ozman in French