The Work of Atget - Holds up well?

[DSkjaeve]

I'm looking to perhaps purchase this old book series. I already have the book Atget released in 2004. Is this series still worth the purchase if I have the money set aside? I've read many great things about it.

 

[bonatto]

Depends on if you like that sort of work. I had the 4/5 book series with me at one point, a catalogue of his work, and I did not much care for it.

 

[telenous]

I'm looking to perhaps purchase this old book series. I already have the book Atget released in 2004. Is this series still worth the purchase if I have the money set aside? I've read many great things about it.

I suppose you mean "Atget" by Szarkowski? Szarkowski used Atget as a paradigmatic case for certain views he had about photography as a whole. The four volume series (which I don't have) seems to be a more complete version, incorporating Hambourg's groundbreaking discovery about Atget's indexing system. There's been a lot of academic sparring ever since on whether Szarkowski presented Atget in an anachronistic manner; whether he dressed him up to fit his agenda, so to speak. In this context, the Szarkowski/Hambourg edition is important as it illustrates more fully Szarkowski's views on Atget and his development as a photographer. Mostly interesting if you want to have a better understanding of the debate, or if you are a diehard Atget fun who wants to dive into a bigger portion of his archive.



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[DSkjaeve]

I suppose you mean "Atget" by Szarkowski? Szarkowski used Atget as a paradigmatic case for certain views he had about photography as a whole. The four volume series (which I don't have) seems to be a more complete version, incorporating Hambourg's groundbreaking discovery about Atget's indexing system. There's been a lot of academic sparring ever since on whether Szarkowski presented Atget in an anachronistic manner; whether he dressed him up to fit his agenda, so to speak. In this context, the Szarkowski/Hambourg edition is important as it illustrates more fully Szarkowski's views on Atget and his development as a photographer. Mostly interesting if you want to have a better understanding of the debate, or if you are a diehard Atget fun who wants to dive into a bigger portion of his archive.



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Thank you Telenous. I believe I was a bit unspecific in my first post and your post managed to describe some of the things I'm interested in exploring. It seems like I should pull the trigger.

And thank you Bonatto for chiming in.