The phrase "I love Paris" is hardly original. From the 1700's Paris has been a center of civilization, style, art, architecture, fashion and intrigue. Photographers have found the city to be a multiple-faceted willing subject. No one can ever completely know Paris full of it's secret rendezvous, hidden alleys, small cafes, beautiful parks and facades, and boisterous markets.
The history of photography as an art form probably started in Paris with Felix Nadar's theatrical portraits from the 1880's. Eugene Atget, who was a frustrated actor, saw the whole city as a giant stage and documented, in loving detail, the old Paris being cleared away to make room for the 'new.' Paris at the beginning of the 20th century.
Between the two World Wars artists from all over Europe sought political and artistic refuge and flocked to Paris. The left bank cafes became the meeting ground for artists of all different mediums who all shared ideas. Photographers such as Kertesz, Brassai, Man Ray, Ilse Bing began radical experimentation with cameras, compositions, lenses, and darkroom techniques. The boundaries of this nascent art were rapidly expanding.
