Paris De Nuit (French Language Edition).

Paris, France Arts et Metiers Graphiques , 1987. Hardcover Fine in Near Fine DJ: The Book is flawless; the binding is square and secure; the text is clean. Free of underlining, hi-lighting, notations, or marginalia in the text. Free of creased or dog-eared pages in the text. Free of any ownership names, dates, addresses, notations, inscriptions, stamps, plates, or labels. A handsome like-new copy, structurally sound and tightly bound, showing no flaws. Virtually 'As New'. The DJ shows the lower corner of the rear inside flap clipped; else only mild rubbing to the panels and a touch of scuffing to the head of the backstrip.. Close to 'As New'. NOT a Remainder, Book-Club, or Ex-Library. Folio (12.75 x 11 x 0.8 inches). 7-page text by Paul Morand, who also provides an 11-page section of explanations for each of the 62 full-page duotone photographs, which make up the bulk of the book. 80 pages. Language: French. Hardback with DJ. Brassaï became interested in photography as a way to record encounters on his nightly walks through the streets of Paris. He enjoyed these long strolls after dark and began carrying a camera and tripod in 1929. He compiled these photographs in a book entitled Paris de nuit. A collection of black and white images that juxtaposed luminous, dreamlike nightscapes with contemporary documentary images of the nighttime's denizens. "Night does not show things, it suggests them. It disturbs and surprises us with its strangeness." Brassaï's subjects are not only aware of the photographer, they collaborate with him. His unique style gave Paris de nuit its distinctive intimacy and was a revelation for his artist friends. Fellow night owl Henry Miller wrote: "Brassaï is a living eye...his gaze pierces straight to the heart of truths in everything." Brassaï was at ease with all types of people and this played an important role in his photography. In the course of his nighttime perambulations he befriended pimps and streetwalkers, hoodlums and laborers, who allowed him to photograph freely among them. He was equally accepted photographing nude showgirls backstage at the Folies Begere as he was photographing prostitutes and their clients at Chez Suzy. Paris by Night was also a technical achievement. In an era of slow lenses and even slower film,Brassï relished the darkness and by trial and error learned to get the night shots he was after. Using his training as a painter, Brassaï framed his shots so that small areas of light pierced large areas of blacks and shadows. Light reflected in wet streets and diffused by fog, would define shapes within the dark. This contrast gave his printed images richness and depth and he called these prints his "little boxes of night."