La Colonne Morris dans le Brouillard

Brassaï

1932, printed ca. 1960 · Gelatin silver print · Photographs

Brassaï made his name as a chronicler of the night. His book Paris de nuit (1932) surveys the activities and topography of the city after dark, from the louche bars of Montparnasse to the trees and bridges flanking the Seine. The dreamy atmosphere of Brassaï's photographs is intensified by his preference for shooting on rainy and foggy nights. "Fog and rain . . . tend to soften contrasts," he wrote. "Steam, as well as wet ground, act as reflectors and diffuse the light of the lamps in all directions. Therefore, it is necessary to photograph certain subjects in the rain, since it is the rain that makes them 'photogenic.'"

Artist

Brassaï

Date

1932, printed ca. 1960

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Gilman Collection, Purchase, Marlene Nathan Meyerson Family Foundation Gift, 2005