St. Étienne du Mont, rue de la Montagne Sainte Geneviève (St. Étienne du Mont, Montagne Sainte Geneviève Street) 1898

This photograph of St. Étienne du Mont was created by Eugène Atget using a large-format camera, a relatively slow process which required a bulky tripod and glass plate negatives. The final print, with its sepia tone and soft focus, arises directly from these material conditions. Atget was not interested in the sharp, crisp imagery that was becoming available at the time, but rather he sought to document the atmosphere of a rapidly changing Paris. Notice the way the light falls on the cobblestones, each one laid by hand. Consider also the shopfronts on either side, advertising their wares with hand-painted signs. These details speak to a slower pace of life, one rooted in craft and local production. Atget was not just capturing buildings; he was recording a disappearing world of labor and commerce, a world that was soon to be swept away by industrialization. His choice of photography as a medium, typically associated with modernity, to document these traditional scenes adds a layer of complexity to his work.