Eugene Atget exhibition, Lunch at Bills

Eugene Atget 1857 - 1927 French Photographer

Margaret & I had a nice lunch at Bill's Darlinghurst

Between 1897 and 1927 Atget captured the old Paris in his pictures. His photographs show the city in its various facets: narrow lanes and courtyards in the historic city center with its old buildings, of which some were soon to be demolished, magnificent palaces from the period before the French Revolution, bridges and quays on the banks of the Seine, and shops with their window displays. He photographed stairwells and architectural details on the façades and took pictures of the interiors of apartments. His interest also extended to the environs of Paris.

Distinguishing characteristics of Atget's photography include a wispy, drawn-out sense of light due to his long exposures a fairly wide view that suggested space & ambiance more than  surface details.  He preferred the emptiness of most of this streets & sometimes  blurred figures in those with people are partly due to his already antiquated technique, including extended  exposure times which  required that many of this images are in the early morning before pedestrians & traffic appeared                                                       

Atget was not progressive but worked patiently with techniques that were obsolescent when he adopted them.  He did make photographs which for purity and intensity of vision have not been bettered.

 

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

"He will be remembered as an urbanist historian, a genuine romanticist, a lover of Paris, a Balzac of the camera, from whose work we can weave a large tapestry of French civilization." Berenice Abbott

 

Bills at Darlinghurst

Both Margaret & I ordered scramled eggs which were delicious.

Inside  Bills at Darlinghurst 

Scrambled eggs with sourdough toast: As usual these can’t be beaten for consistency. Everytime I’ve had breakfast at Bills the quality has never come short. The consistency is unmatched  Grounding some fresh pepper over the eggs.