Lamp Post, rue de la Chaise, Paris

Ilse Bing

1934 · Gelatin silver print · Photographs

Bing moved to Paris in 1930 and soon became known as the “Queen of the Leica” for her expertise at exploiting the hand-held 35mm camera’s ability to capture and transmit action. Here she responds to the odd, spectral beauty of the light emitted by a common gas lamp. In 1828 Paris became one of the first European cities to adopt gas street lighting, resurrecting its nickname “La Vielle-Lumière,” or “City of Light.” The sobriquet was first applied to Paris during the Age of Enlightment in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries due to its fame as a center of education and ideas.

Artist

Ilse Bing

Date

1934

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Bequest of Ilse Bing Wolff, 1998