Maison Close
Eugène Atget; Berenice Abbott
Description
Subject Matter:
This seemingly casual photograph of a woman in a white dress standing in a doorway and a soldier leaning against the wall alongside her likely depicts a brothel worker and her client. The straightforwardness of the representation – both the soldier and the prostitute pose for the photographer – reflects the ordinariness of this form of exchange in Paris at the turn of the twentieth century. Atget closely framed these two people in his photograph (without the descriptive title we would not know the scene takes place in Versailles), suggesting his project of documentation included people as well as places.
Physical Description:
A woman in a doorway and a soldier leaning on the exterior wall next to her.
Usage Rights:
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