avt paper Essay

National Gallery of Art: Paris in Transition

Currently there is an exhibition at the National Gallery of Art called “Paris in Transition,” which offers a compilation of photographs depicting Paris in a variety of surroundings. For the purposes of this paper, I choose to focus on the artwork of Ilse Bing (1899-1998) and Eugene Atget (1857-1927), both of whom were distinguished French photographers in the early to mid 1900’s. During this time period, majority of the artists were still treating photography not as an art form but more as a hobby. However, after viewing both Bing’s and Atget’s photographs, it can be seen they valued what a simple photo offered and used the medium to depict Paris in a way that very view artists could do on canvas.
One picture that stood out to me was the, “Pont Marie”, by Eugene Atget. The photograph was very unique in that it depicted a bridge located in busy Paris, yet it seemed as if the bridge was in the French countryside. The picturesque scene offered insight into a very serene and calm Paris, an image that very few artists depicted the city in. A unique feature of Atget’s photo was the detail and angle the picture was taken from. It seems that majority of his pictures were taken from a corner which added an almost 3-D appeal to the image, and offered a shadowy frame to the figure being photographed. Perhaps the artist uses the bridges as a symbolism for a passageway or gateway into another realm. Another unique feature is the emphasis on the water under the picture. The artist manipulates the water by taking the photograph from a corner angle. By doing so, the exact amount of sunshine can be reflected on the water to create an image of a sheer terrain that is continuous in all directions.   For the time period for which these pictures were taken, the photographer uses very advanced techniques and values the usage of photography to represent a new art form, something very few artists were known for doing in that time period....