Versailles, Les Marmousets 1906

Eugène Atget made this photograph of a fountain in Versailles using an early photographic process. The sepia tone comes from the printing-out paper he favored, a material that subtly renders the stone texture and the fountain's sculpted forms. Atget was interested in documenting the architecture and material culture of Paris and its surroundings, and his choice of subject here—a fountain adorned with cherubic figures— speaks to the enduring legacy of craft traditions in France. The fountain itself is a product of skilled labor, from the quarrying of the stone to the carving of the decorative elements. Atget’s image captures not just the object, but the way in which human hands have shaped the environment. Consider, too, the labor involved in maintaining these formal gardens. Atget's photographs like this draw our attention to the intersection of art, craft, and the social context in which they exist. He reminds us that even seemingly timeless works are rooted in specific moments of production.