Paris Changing:
Revisiting Eugene Atget's Paris
Christopher Rauschenberg

Between 1888 and 1927 Eugène Atget meticulously photographed Paris and its environs, capturing in thousands of photographs the city's parks, streets, and buildings as well as its diverse inhabitants. His images preserved the vanishing architecture of the ancien régime as Paris grew into a modern capital and established Atget as one of the twentieth century's greatest and most revered photographers.

Christopher Rauschenberg spent a year in the late '90s revisiting and rephotographing many of Atget's same locations. Paris Changing features seventy-four pairs of images beautifully reproduced in duotone. By meticulously replicating the emotional as well as aesthetic qualities of Atget's images, Rauschenberg vividly captures both the changes the city has under-gone and its enduring beauty. His work is both an homage to his predecessor and an artistic study of Paris in its own right. Each site is indicated on a map of the city, inviting readers to follow in the steps of Atget and Rauschenberg themselves. Essays by Clark Worswick and Alison Nordstrom give insight into Atget's life and situate Rauschenberg's work in the context of other rephotography projects. The book concludes with an epilogue by Rosamond Bernier as well as a portfolio of other images of contemporary Paris by Rauschenberg.

If a trip to the city of lights is not in your immediate future, this luscious portrait of Paris then and now is definitely the next best thing.


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Oregon-based photographer Christopher Rauschenberg, the son of artist Robert Rauschenberg, is a founding member of the Blue Sky Photographers' Collective and Gallery. His work has been exhibited widely.

Essay contributors:

Rosamond Bernier served as European features editor of Vogue magazine in Paris, where she became friends with artists Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, and Georges Braque. She founded the art magazine l'oeuil in 1955 and after her return to the United States became a professional lecturer, speaking at institutions such as the Louvre, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Guggenheim Museum, among many others.

Clark Worswick has authored a number of books on photography.

Alison Nordstrom is a curator and her writing on photography has been widely published.
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Editorial Reviews

Library Journal:
"The compendium of the photographer's oeuvre during the belle epoque is an enchanting catalog of the city's streets, parks, neighborhoods, shops...in rich duotones that you'll want to reach out and touch." (1/1/08)

B&W:
"These parallel views, 78 from each photographer, are fascinating to look at. The delightful result is that Paris retains much of her charm, that quaint character preserved in brick-lined alleyways and bistros, bridges along the Seine, and of course, the parks. The French have a saying: "The more things change, the more they remaind the same."" (March 2008)

Travel + Leisure:
"In Paris Changing Christopher Rauschenberg retraces the footsteps of French documentarian Eugene Atget in 1898. The two men's photos are shown side-by-side, revealing the city's eternal elegance and its modern developments." (December 2007)

New York Times:
"Paris Changing is an invitation to a nostalgic voyage, or, to a long Paris weekend, during which you can use the photographs as a guide and return to New York with fresh eyes." (October 28, 2007)

Photography:
"In 76 pairs of images beautifully reproduced in duotone, Rauschenberg captures the simiarities and changes Paris has undergone with its enduring beauty. "

Art New England:
"[Rauschenberg] photographs the older parts of the city that anyone who loves Paris will enjoy poring over in this attractive volume." (January 2008)

The Photobook Blog:
"With the Atget matched photograph on the facing spread, you quickly understand that Rauschenberg was not as rigorous in his rephotographing concept. The seasons, time of day, the atmospheric conditions and lighting all vary between the two bodies of work. Eugene Atget had the luxury of understanding that he had on-going local project, that what was not completed in one season, would be continued the next." — Doug Stockdale (August 16, 2009)

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