Accession Number
1974/1.114

Title
Maison Close

Artist(s)
Eugène Atget

Artist Nationality
French (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1921

Medium & Support
gold-toned gelatin silver print on paper

Dimensions
10 in x 13 in (25.4 cm x 33.02 cm)

Credit Line
Museum Purchase

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.

Primary Object Classification
Photograph

Collection Area
Photography

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
Figures
Paris
brothels
documentary photography
doorways
males
modern and contemporary art
prostitutes
soldiers
standing
street scenes
streets