Rephotographing Atget

Eugene Atget was an urban historian who documented the imprint of history on Paris from 1897 - 1927. He systematically photographed Old Paris building by building, marking the changes that occurred over time. I first heard of him a number of years ago when there was a show of his work at the Art Gallery of Ontario. I was smitten and also struck by the similarities between Paris then and now. I have two books of his photos and I get a whole lotta pleasure looking at them and comparing them to the Paris I know. In many cases the major difference between Atget's Paris and Paris circa 2006 is the presence of asphalt and automobiles as the photo here illustrates. Christopher Rauschenberg has been rephotographing Atget's Paris. Check out the site.