Assignment Four: Virtual Essay

Eugene Atget was a French photographer from the early 1900s who is best known for his photographs documenting the architecture and everyday activities that went on in Paris. He photographed Paris through alleyways, narrow lanes in the historic city-center, old buildings, bridges, shop window displays, all with a special attention to the architectural details. Atgets work can best be distinguished through the uses of long exposures creating a white haze and utilizing wide angles. Similar to Paris, I felt Toronto offered many opportunities to photograph the cities historic buildings with many of the details in architecture that Paris offers.

“A good photograph is like a good hound dog, dumb, but eloquent,” is a one of the only quotes I could find from Eugene Atget. From my understanding, this quote summarizes the idea that a simple photograph can have a powerful impact, an ideology that Atget regularly practiced. 

Below are photos that I have personally taken from Downtown Toronto that were inspired by Atget’s shooting style and collection of photographs with a little twist.

PHOTO ONE

When I first saw Atgets photo, I immediately thought of the Gooderham building located between Front And Wellington Street because I found the design and mature styling of the building to be very similar to that of the photo taken by Atget. Similar to many of the structures in Paris, the Gooderham building holds such rich history in Toronto and is recognized for its narrow wedge shape and bright color. I also decided to capture the photo in horizontal landscape to add my own personal twist. When looking at Atgets photo, the roadway is completely abandoned and I question why there are no cars or people in sight. I found it extremely difficult to capture a photo free of any obstructions because of the constant flow of traffic and pedestrians crossing the road. To bring the two photos together, I processed the photo to black/white while adjusting the brightness/contrast. In addition, I think this photo best illustrates Atgets style and use of long exposures. The roadway draws the eye down middle of the road to a white mark, making one question what lies at the end of road?  

Eugene Atget - Rue de seine (1934)

Photo taken by myself.

PHOTO TWO

The following photo was taken at the front of Union Station. Union Station is one the busiest and most traveled stations along the subway line with many commuters passing through.  Similar to Atgets preference to shoot with a wide angle and use white space, I attempted to take a wide angled photo of Union Station to capture all of the little details in the window and building columns. Union Station has a lot of historic value in the main building, however I chose to photograph the side along The Air Canada Centre in order to add a modern twist to the photograph taken by Atget. After some post-process work, the photos share close similarities in terms of symmetry and lines that draw the eyes to the middle of the photo. The rough texture of the building photographed by Atget can also be seen in the brickwork in front of the ACC. The end result is a dark building that leaves me with a sense of intrigue and mystery.

Eugene Atget- 28 Rue Bonaparte (1910)

Photo taken by myself. 

PHOTO THREE

Atget appreciated detail in subjects. He photographed images in old Paris of run-down buildings looking for detail in the brickwork and architectural design.  I kept this in mind as I photographed downtown and came across the Hockey Hall of Fame. Similar to Atgets photo, the Hockey Hall of Fame had immense detail in the entrance and columns. I edited the photograph by emphasizing the details in the brickwork and columns. The photos also share similarities in the texture of the brickwork. The viewpoint of the picture is also very close to Atgets although I could not get as centered due to the constant moving traffic on the road. Finally, the taxicab on the right hand corner breaks the symmetry in the photo creating a sense of imbalance comparable to Atgets photo.

Eugene Atget- Gallery new

Photo taken my myself.

PHOTO FOUR

The greatest similarity between Atgets photograph and mine is the use of depth-of-field. As Atget had photographed, I looked for a narrow alleyway and came across one along King Street and Jarvis. I thought that the alleyway gave a cold and somewhat isolated feeling, a similar emotion I felt when I saw Atgets photo. Important elements in Atgets pictures found in mine include the linear lines on the brick wall that really draw the eye down the middle of alleyway while repetition can be identified between the photographs coble stone and brick ground. Finally, many of Atgets pictures have a strong white haze due to his use long exposures and because of this, were able to create such mysterious looking photographs. This was a signature component of Atget and I attempted to implement this by editing the brightness and contrast of the photo. 

Eugene Atget- Intersection of the rue Lhomond and rue Rataud (1913)

Photo taken by myself.

PHOTO FIVE

Atgets photograph along the street is very busy with signs and posters plastered on the walls. The road however is completely clear with no sign of human life. To add my own take on this classic photo, I thought that the contrast from the congested parked cars and empty street would be a similar take to Atgets contrast in busy posters and signs. In addition, the bending road in both photos creates a sense of depth-of-field and really draws the eye to follow. Atget commonly used long exposures to create this depth and I think that Atget does a really good job at pulling in the viewer and taking them on a photographic journey. 

Eugene Atget- Rue Des Ursins (1923)

Photo taken by myself.

In conclusion, Atget was a true pioneer in street photograph who photographed new and old Paris in a realistic but unique manner. Atgets use of long exposures makes his work identifiable from others and he  utilized many of the fundamentals of composition in photography today. Through his work and style in photography, I was able to experiment and play around with creating depth-of-field and wide angle shots in Downtown Toronto. I thought it was interesting how different it made things when I went about taking photos using some of the photographic elements in Atgets style of shooting. This assignment was a great learning experience not only in terms of the history of Eugene Atget but the fundamentals within photography. I had a lot of fun going Downtown and shooting!


SOURCES:
http://www.atgetphotography.com/The-Photographers/Eugene-Atget.html