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Paris promenade. Eugène Atget’s unique city portrait

A flâneur and photographer at once, Eugène Atget (1857–1927) was obsessed with walking the streets. After trying his hand at painting and acting, the native of Libourne turned to photography and moved to Paris. He supplied studies for painters, architects, and stage designers, but became enraptured by what he called “documents” of the city and its environs. His scenes rarely included people, but rather the architecture, landscape, and artifacts that made up the societal and cultural stage.

Atget was not particularly renowned during his lifetime but in the 1920s came to the attention of the Dada and Surrealist avant-garde through Man Ray. Four of his images, with their particular fusion of mimesis and mystery, appeared in the surrealist journal, La Révolution Surréaliste, while Ray and much of his artistic circle purchased Atget prints. Atget’s fame grew after his death, with several articles and a monograph by Berenice Abbott. Several leading photographers, including Walker Evans and Bill Brandt, have since acknowledged their debt to Atget.

This fresh TASCHEN edition gathers some 500 photographs from the Atget archives at Musée Carnavalet and the Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris to celebrate his outstanding eye for the urban environment and evocation of a Paris gone by. Down main streets and side streets, past shops and churches, through courtyards and arcades and the 20 arrondissements, we find a unique portrait of a beloved city and the making of a modern photographic master.

About the series:

Bibliotheca Universalis — Compact cultural companions celebrating the eclectic TASCHEN universe at an unbeatable, democratic price!

Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible, open-minded publishing. Bibliotheca Universalis brings together more than 100 of our all-time favourite titles in a neat new format so you can curate your own affordable library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia.

Bookworm’s delight — never bore, always excite!

Captures the photographs of 'old Paris' taken by French photographer Eugene Atget between 1898 and 1924.

French photographer Eugene Atget (February 12, 1857 - August 4, 1927) was best-known for his incredible photographs documenting the architecture and street scenes of Paris. This book showcases the images he captured between 1898 and 1924 - images of the 'old Paris', represented with an almost surreal, dream-like quality. He photographed the seine, the streets, the incredible architecture and the facades of buildings and palaces, the courtyards, apartment interiors, stairwells, parks, shop windows and the urban environment - replete with street traders, fairgrounds and prostitutes - building an enormous artistic documentary collection of the French capital. The book has been published to accompany an exhibition organised by the Mapfre Foundation in collaboration with the Museum Carnavalet in Paris that will travel to the Fotomuseum of Rotterdam and the New Gallery of Sydney.

When German photographer Gerrit Engel moved to New York in 1994 to study architecture, he combed through bookstores in search of a book documenting the city’s most important buildings—not just some eccentric details but each edifice as a whole from the street level to the roof; no fancy photographic distortions but captured as the structures present themselves to the ordinary pedestrian. Having
searched in vain he decided to do it himself. Documenting prefabricated housing estates in East Berlin neighborhood of Marzahn, and Buffalo grain elevators, he knew what he was looking for. What he came up with is no less than a typology of Manhattan architecture: 150 buildings in chronological order of their creation between 1793 and 2005, complete with names of the architects and locations. Engel’s brilliant color photographs present a survey of the mix of styles that make Manhattan a unique architectural environment. We now get what Gerrit Engel had been looking for.

81 four-color and black-and-white images

For a little over a year, and conceived as part of The New Yorker’s redesign of its front section in 2005, Sylvia Plachy was the first photographer ever to be assigned to shoot the opening photograph of the essential Goings On About Town section of the legendary magazine.

From the Mermaid Parade on Coney Island to Forest Park in Queens, and from backstage to center stage, in Goings On About Town, Plachy explores the city’s dynamics from the inside out, revealing the vital and at times wacky creativity that energizes New York around the clock. In doing so, she presents hidden gems that we might otherwise never get to see up close, such as Macy’s workshop in New Jersey for the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Plachy’s particular humor and way of looking feels particularly suited to these assignments. Almost entirely in color, this volume also includes some images that have never been published. Joyful and idiosyncratic, Goings On About Town is quintessentially Sylvia Plachy, and quintessentially New York.

"Photography is nothing, it's life that interests me." With his ever-present Leica camera, Henri Cartier-Bresson captured the raw and the sweet, the comic and the profound moments of lives that were lost in the grind or relegated to someone else's memory - the coincidental moment at which a reflection in a puddle of water mimics a poster on a nearby wall or when lovers kiss, oblivious to the not-so-pristine world around them. It is the familiar beauty and cruelty of the day-to-day that is so engaging in his photographs: two cosmopolitan woman chat nonchalantly while surrounded by empty lettuce crates; mourners at a funeral stare directly into the camera; postwar Paris awakens in the fog. Cartier-Bresson was the master of the "decisive moment," that fleeting instant for which a picture really is worth a thousand words, which is the essence of photojournalism. In no place is this more exemplified than in his images of Paris. Cartier-Bresson personally selected the more than 130 black-and-white photographs of Paris for this publication. With photographs taken over a period of 50 years, the work is beautifully and generously printed in duotone. The accompanying essays, both short and unobtrusive, are also familiar and personal. One essayist captures the essence of Cartier-Bresson's camera work: "When life calls, he is always there, to assist, or to admire; to rebel, or to say no to exploiters and imposters, and to all those who demean its value."

"Photography is nothing, it's life that interests me." With his ever-present Leica camera, Henri Cartier-Bresson captured the raw and the sweet, the comic and the profound moments of lives that were lost in the grind or relegated to someone else's memory -- the coincidental moment at which a reflection in a puddle of water mimics a poster on a nearby wall or when lovers kiss, oblivious to the not-so-pristine world around them. It is the familiar beauty and cruelty of the day-to-day that is so engaging in his photographs: two cosmopolitan woman chat nonchalantly while surrounded by empty lettuce crates; mourners at a funeral stare directly into the camera; postwar Paris awakens in the fog. Cartier-Bresson was the master of the "decisive moment," that fleeting instant for which a picture really is worth a thousand words, which is the essence of photojournalism. In no place is this more exemplified than in his images of Paris.

Cartier-Bresson personally selected the more than 130 black-and-white photographs of Paris for this publication. With photographs taken over a period of 50 years, the work is beautifully and generously printed in duotone. The accompanying essays, both short and unobtrusive, are also familiar and personal. One essayist captures the essence of Cartier-Bresson's camera work: "When life calls, he is always there, to assist, or to admire; to rebel, or to say no to exploiters and imposters, and to all those who demean its value." -- Manine Golden

This volume presents photographer Cartier-Bresson's own selection of 130 of his photographs of Paris, taken over 50 years. Accompanying text discusses the history of Cartier-Bresson's engagement with the city and its place in his achievement.

* A comprehensive insider’s guide to the Big Apple, with sections on shopping, culture, sights, restaurants, hotels, and more…
* Ranging from boutiques to bars, museums to landmarks, this guide’s got all bases covered

Franck Bohbot s Light On New York City is a sentimental and nocturnal exploration of the city that never sleeps. 

In this photography project that began in 2013, New York City is presented in a series of haunting and cinematic images as seen in the nighttime façades and storefronts of buildings that boast neon marquees and signage, eerily preserved in all of their nostalgic and kitschy glory, to undeniably sleek and contemporary exteriors with more daring architectural design. 

This aesthetic, along with the predominant absence of people, results in a melancholic atmosphere reminiscent of Edward Hopper paintings and evocative of staged theatrical sets a merging of contemporary urban reality and a magical, sentimental artificiality. 

The photographs featured in Light On New York City convey a luminescence that celebrates modernity while longing for the past in an ironically ageless paradox.

New York in black-and-white from the master photographer Serge Ramelli

Black-and-white urban photography has a unique effect: It can lend a historical feel or bring out perspectives and surfaces in a special way. Serge Ramelli’s New York photos do both — and much more. With his film director’s eye, he searches out locations using parameters that evoke a specific atmosphere and build tension. The New York skyline or typical New York street scenes are stylized into a stage — but a stage where nothing is required to happen. Their impressiveness is so heightened that a movie automatically plays in the viewer’s head. With New York boasting so much history and evocativeness, nothing more is needed. Although he is similar to Ansel Adams in technique and expression, Serge Ramelli is a contemporary photographer in every sense of the word, constantly experimenting with new technical options.

After Paris, New York was Serge Ramelli’s choice of second instalment for his photographic diptych of contemporary cityscapes, and it’s certainly no coincidence that the photographer selected this super-sized city as the subject of his second book. How could he fail — he, the self-taught photographer — to pay homage to this, the city of the willing, the self-made men, and the resourceful? And how could this great lover of cinema have chosen any other backdrop or any other film location than that of the Big Apple, made immortal by more than a century of legendary cinematography? An eager lover of dramatic imagery, Serge Ramelli is constantly on the lookout for spectacular lighting, whether natural or artificial, and with its gigantic advertising and garish boards New York is an almost perfect city for such a hunt.

- Breathtaking new perspectives of this fabled city
- Discover photographic masterpieces of a stunningly beautiful metropolis

About the Author:

The French photographer Serge Ramelli specializes in urban and landscape photography. He is represented by YellowKorner, the leading publisher of art photography, with more than 78 galleries worldwide. Ramelli’s hit photography courses and tutorials have more than 300,000 YouTube subscribers. He has published photo books on Paris, New York, and Venice. Los Angeles is his fourth book with teNeues.

Shooting in all seasons and from dawn to dusk, Steinmetz captures the thrilling complexity and romance of 21st-century New York, with its new skyline and waterfront landscape, dazzling contemporary architecture and historic buildings — along with parks and streets and rooftops used for every possible purpose, and the massive infrastructure that keeps it all going. Included are such iconic places as Central Park and Times Square, new landmarks such as the High Line and the September 11 Memorial, One World Trade Center and other additions to the exclusive list of the world’s tallest buildings, and intriguing sites throughout the five boroughs. Steinmetz records some of the city’s beloved traditions — such as the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, the New York marathon, and the U.S. Open — but what makes his photographs special is their surprising intimacy, as they capture New Yorkers going about their lives in their remarkable city.

“Stunning aerial photos show a side of New York you’ve never seen.”
— Huffington Post

“These aerial views of New York City will take your breath away.”
— Fortune

“George Steinmetz’s new photo book, New York Air: The View From Above, presents an unparalleled visual feast of this well-known metropolis. Every photo offers a new perspective and a level of detail that turns familiar places into never-seen-before spectacles. Popular views are transformed, and an exclusive, secretive New York is revealed: the curvy contours of Central Park’s trails encircling baseball fields blanketed with snow; the contrast of old and new as the glowing Freedom Tower competes with the iconic Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges or the privilege of looking into Lady Liberty’s neoclassical eyes.”
— TIME

“The best view of New York might be from above, as the brilliant photographs of George Steinmetz help us to see. This is a city usually beyond our seeing. Steinmetz captures his images from a helicopter or ‘a flying lawn chair’ he designed, freeing him to see the world’s deserts, oceans, jungles, cities. Not just look at them. See them. Suddenly, through his eyes, we are above New York. On first seeing the Steinmetz images, I felt again, for the first time in several years, a sense of wonder.“
— Pete Hamill

“[Steinmetz] sees the city’s landmarks with new eyes, presenting a feast of unexpected colour and geometry in 120 photographs that test your powers of recognition.”
— The New York Times

About the Author:

Before he turned to photograph New York from a helicopter, George Steinmetz documented the Earth’s remote and exotic regions from his motorized paraglider, working mostly for National Geographic and GEO magazines. His previous books include Desert Air, African Air, and Empty Quarter. He lives in Glen Ridge, New Jersey

The New York skyline is arguably one of the most distinctive on Earth. At night, however, the city’s numerous landmarks are transformed from the familiar into the new. Following the success of Merrell’s London at Night, award-winning aerial photographer Jason Hawkes offers a dramatic, night-time perspective on one of the world’s most iconic locations. From the vantage point of a helicopter, Hawkes captures the magical, almost abstract quality of such familiar sights as the Statue of Liberty, Times Square and the Empire State Building as seen after dark, as well as revealing some of New York’s less well-known vistas. Featuring an informative introduction and extended captions by the New York Times journalist Christopher Gray, New York at Night is a unique and often breathtaking record of the city that truly never sleeps

• New York’s most famous sights as never seen before, together with less familiar views of the city
• Includes more than 130 stunningly detailed photographs
• A remarkable portrait of one of the world’s most vibrant and exciting cities