Brassai: Paris by Night

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Brassai: Paris by Night

Brassai: Paris by Night

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At that hour a twilight world comes into being, a world of shifting forms, of false perspectives, phantom planes. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. Fortunately, I have many more examples of his work in other books in my collection and I still find surprises in some images even after looking at them for a third or fourth or whichever multiple of times I have removed a book from the shelf.

Lorant's layout produces some interesting juxtapositions of rich and poor experiencing the city by night. In a 1968 catalogue for a Brassaï exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, novelist Lawrence Durrell wrote: “He is very much a child of Paris, and in some ways the city’s most faithful biographer.Before World War II struck the city, he captured foggy avenues with bare trees, the gate to the Luxembourg Gardens, bridges, and street façades. The roads ebb by like frozen boiling rivers, through the blinding lights all effervescent yellow forever dimming upwards, hawking wares like glittering salvations from the heart of the night's pure diversion from diurnal life.

In the early 21st century, the discovery of more than 200 letters and hundreds of drawings and other items from the period 1940–1984 has provided scholars with material for understanding his later life and career. First published in 1933, Paris By Night, of which I own the fine reissue by Flammarion (2011), feels like more than a book: it is a steppingstone in photography, and offers a look into the Paris night, as a world complete in itself, with its own story, its own characters. I no longer have the book as, during a house move many years ago, about half of my book collection and several items of photo equipment were lost. One should think of it as amongst the best produced and influential photobooks ever” ( The Photobook, Vol. Slowly my eyes become acclimatized to the night setting and I start to wonder about the people being photographed: I wonder about the photo of a lone prostitute standing at a corner, the light of an out of sight window or gas lamp casting her long shadow onto the sidewalk.

Altogether, they contributed to the art magazine Minotaure, edited by Surrealist forerunner André Breton. First American edition: the original edition of Paris by Night, published as Paris de Nuit in 1933, contained 64 reproductions of photographs by Brassai, printed in heliogravure. In 1933 Brassaï published 64 of these scenes in his first book of photographs, Paris de Nuit, which became an immediate hit. This new edition gives us the same images and, according to the publisher’s statement, “uses the latest engraving technology to reproduce faithfully the quality of the original photographs”.

The survey includes Brassaï’s pictures of street graffiti, female nudes, and his famous friends such as Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí.Thus, as well as a wonderful collection of very evocative images, the book can act as a reminder of the importance in engaging the intellect to make such images. They move like fish in the still dark waters of a lake, men flitting through existence, stuck between two states of being.

Titled Couple d’amoureux dans un petit café, quartier Italie ( Loving couple in a small cafe, Italy district), the photograph exudes lust and old-world glamour, exemplifying just what made the photographer’s vision so enduring; more than eight decades after its creation, the image remains as evocative and seductive as ever. He captured the grittier aspects of the city, but also documented ballet, opera and high society, including his friends and contemporaries such as Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí and Henri Matisse. I particularly like the quotation from Brassai himself at the beginning – I often feel that nothing is more surreal than reality (especially in these interesting times) and it is always comforting to know that others both now and in the past have felt the same. If I have any criticism, it is that there are too few pages and images in the book but that was Brassai's personal choice. Paris by Night, first published in 1933, features sixty-two of these poetic images, and has become an acknowledged classic of urban photography.Lights from cars, windows, hotel signs, snowy grounds, and watery reflections enhance the sense of drama in his dreamy nocturnal shots. Brass's ability to capture the mysticism of 'Paris by Night' instills a romance and love of fi noir for all.



  • Fruugo ID: 258392218-563234582
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