In 1933 Brassaï published 64 of these scenes in his first book of photographs, Paris de Nuit, which became an immediate hit. If I have any criticism, it is that there are too few pages and images in the book but that was Brassai's personal choice.

Brassaï moved in the same circles as the surrealists–he met Picasso in 1932, and worked on Le Minotaure, the famous surrealist review. The more I reflect upon the workload itself, I wonder about his habits as he went out each night to photograph.The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. The gradation of tones is wonderfully subtle, describing an apparently infinite range of black and near-black tones. Paris by Night, first published in 1933, features sixty-two of these poetic images, and has become an acknowledged classic of urban photography.

He retained a very individual creative vision, however, commenting: “The surreal effect of my pictures was nothing more than reality made fantastic through a particular vision. The images are matte and not particularly contrasty, and I don't think they are shown to their full advantage. Night is not the negative of day; black surfaces and white are not merely transposed, as on a photographic plate, but another picture altogether emerges at nightfall. Obliged to use photography for his assignments, he initially disliked the medium, but eventually started to appreciate its aesthetic capabilities. Indeed, Brassaï wasn’t a native Frenchman, but a Hungarian born in Brassó, Transylvania (in modern-day Romania, which was previously under Austro-Hungarian rule).First published in French in 1932, this new edition brings one of Brassa's finest works back into print. Ein Buch für die, die sich mit Fotokunst auseinandersetzen und die Zeit zwischen den Kriegen interessant finden.

A beautiful new edition of Brassaï’s classic book of urban photography, Paris by Night, shows both the bright and dark sides of Paris as seen through the eyes of a talented young artist who fell under the city’s spell. Yet it’s their deeply emotive, cinematic quality that transforms his subjects into characters with intergenerational appeal—none more so than the city of Paris itself.We collect information from our users – this is for administration and contact purposes in connection with contributions you may wish to make to the site or your use of certain site features such as newsletter subscriptions and property enquiries. In the early 21st century, the discovery of more than 200 letters and hundreds of drawings and other items from the period 1940–1984 has provided scholars with material for understanding his later life and career. Brassaï's famous, exquisite portrait of Paris under cover of the night; of humanity as light beaming out of holes punched in the darkness, simultaneously standing out against and hiding within the evening gloom. My recollection, which may be wrong, of the earlier edition (probably from the 60s or 70s) is that it was printed on glossy paper, but one reviewer is of the opinion that the paper used here is more matte.

One of the most important and influential photographers of the twentieth century, Brassai (1899-1984) moved to Paris from Hungary in 1924. Continuing his work as a sculptor and painter, he supported himself by working as a journalist, adopting the pseudonym of Brassaï, derived from the name of his native city, Brassó.Brassaï’s camera lingered on prostitutes, gang members, and the queer community in the interwar era—he gained entrance to Le Monocle, a lesbian nightclub in Montmartre; and Suzy’s, a brothel, among other underground venues. tall x 10-5/8"; black cover; lamination is lifting from cover; crease along top 6" front cover and light corresponding creases to first 2 pp; ca. First published in 1933, Paris By Night, of which I own the fine reissue by Flammarion (2011), feels like more than a book: it is a steppingstone in photography, and offers a look into the Paris night, as a world complete in itself, with its own story, its own characters. Organized by Fundación MAPFRE and former MoMA curator Peter Galassi, the show, entitled “Brassaï,” opened in Spain earlier this year and landed at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) this month.