Porte d’Asnières (gate), Cité Valmy (17th arr.), rag-and-bone men

Atget, Eugène (Jean Eugène Auguste Atget, dit), né en 1857 à Libourne, décédé en 1927 à Paris

Eugène Atget is known for his views of Paris streets and parks from the early 20th century. Equipped with a tripod, an 18x24 cm camera, glass plates with the same dimensions and a black cover, he captured street scenes, beautiful façades or out-of-the-way courtyards. The Carnavalet Museum was one of his first clients and conserves over 9,100 prints by this photographer.

In 1913, Atget became interested in a section of Paris that was scheduled to disappear. This was the “Zone”, unbuildable land that extended beyond the old fortifications built under Louis Philippe between 1841 and 1844. From the beginning, this area was the totally illegal refuge for the poorest of the poor, in particular day laborers and ragmen. They lived there and developed their activities of collection and sorting. Atget’s photos reveal the precarious circumstances of the families that lived and worked in these insalubrious lodgings, without dwelling on their misery. A place with a sulfurous and disquieting reputation, the Zone is represented without pathos or romanticism.