Author Description

"This selection of images examines the growth and development of photography through the changing character of Paris in the remarkable period of 1900-1968. During these years, photography became a mass medium, with cheap reproductions appearing in the press. Technical advances made it possible to capture rapid movement and street photography flourished; some of the finest images in documentary photography were made on the streets of Paris by Atget, Brassai, Cartier-Bresson, Doisneau and Ronis, among many others. The transience of city life and the histories of Paris are brilliantly evoked in these images: from the elegiac photographs of the early twentieth century which recorded those quartiers later condemned by modernisation projects, through the Occupation, to the upheaval of the May 1968 demonstrations. With over 130 photographs and Julian Stallabrass's authoritative text, this book is an essential purchase for anyone interested in the art of photography and the city of Paris"--Jacket.