Eugene Atget Appreciation

runswithsizzers said:

I would like to second my agreement with what @DREW WILEY and @Vaughn have said. I think it is too common for oafish comments to get lightly dismissed as, "boys will be boys," which may be true enough, but none the less, likely to sound offensive to some forum members.

One litmus test participants might use before posting a comment about female anatomy would be to ask themselves, "Would I say this at the dinner table if my mother, wife, and daughter were present?"

To my ear, the comment, "I've seen better knockers," does not sound like part of an inherently respectful exchange of views on a public forum, and probably should have been self-censored.

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When I said, "I've seen better knockers." I was answering another post referring to door knockers. Apparantly, you read more into what I said, which reminds me of the joke:

So this guy is with his psychiatrist, who is showing him Rorschach ink blots.

"What do you see in this blot?" says the shrink.

"Well, I see a couple having sex."

"And what do you see in this blot?" asks the shrink, showing him another blot.

"Well, I see another couple having sex?"

"And what about this third one?"

"Well, again, I see a couple having sex."

"Well," says the psychiatrist. "You really do have a dirty Mind?

"Me?" responds the patient. "You're the one showing me all those dirty pictures."

Alan Edward Klein said:

When I said, "I've seen better knockers." I was answering another post referring to door knockers. Apparantly, you read more into what I said, which reminds me of the joke:

So this guy is with his psychiatrist, who is showing him Rorschach ink blots.

"What do you see in this blot?" says the shrink.

"Well, I see a couple having sex."

"And what do you see in this blot?" asks the shrink, showing him another blot.

"Well, I see another couple having sex?"

"And what about this third one?"

"Well, again, I see a couple having sex."

"Well," says the psychiatrist. "You really do have a dirty Mind?

"Me?" responds the patient. "You're the one showing me all those dirty pictures."

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There is joke thread you could use instead of one about Atget.

I believe a good chunk of Atgets earnings came from the French government who wanted a lot of things documented.

Alan Edward Klein said:

which reminds me of the joke:

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Spring is in the air, huh?
Last year, it came a little earlier.

Alan Edward Klein said:

When I said, "I've seen better knockers." I was answering another post referring to door knockers. Apparantly, you read more into what I said, which reminds me of the joke:

...

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No, you answered by quoting part of a post (#611) that was specifically referring to breasts as knockers...so the cloak of innocence does not seem to fit...even with a halo over it. But again, it started at as a mildly sexual pun, not the "fairly innocuous pun" as claimed -- and from one small snowball, such avalanches can form.

This is why I much preferred having mixed trail crews in the wilderness. The campfire talk amongst only men can be a bit uninspiring.

koraks said:

Spring is in the air, huh?
Last year, it came a little earlier.

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Hey, it's; a good joke for a photo forum.

DREW WILEY said:

But all that kind of thing can be read about in later, better-informed biographies.

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If I was looking to read just one, which would you recommend?

Vaughn said:

No, you answered by quoting part of a post (#611) that was specifically referring to breasts as knockers...so the cloak of innocence does not seem to fit...even with a halo over it. But again, it started at as a mildly sexual pun, not the "fairly innocuous pun" as claimed -- and from one small snowball, such avalanches can form.

This is why I much preferred having mixed trail crews in the wilderness. The campfire talk amongst only men can be a bit uninspiring.

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Well,, it was the best way to lead into the joke I wanted to tell about the Rorschach ink blots. Also, the fact is he did seem to have an affinity for taking pictures of nude prostitutes. I don't buy the argument made by others here that he only did it to sell to artists who wanted to paint nudes but they didn;t know where to get models. He was commissioned by the government to photograph the outside of these buildings and took it upon himself to go inside the brothels to get these photos. Does anyone really believe he had no prurient interest to at least capturing pictures of naked women before Playboy was available? And what else did he do with these ladies of the night? My pun was actually deeper than you figure. I was comparing Atget's nude photos when referring to seeing better knockers, pointing out Atget's other photo hobby. Like Paul Gauguin's paintings of South Seas nude girls, there's more that meets the eye.

A good read? I still like Hambourg's 4-Volume MMA set. Superbly printed. I don't know what used bookstores might sell these for. Vol I has the most autobiographical information. Vol 4 has the most iconic images.

DREW WILEY said:

I still like Hambourg's 4-Volume MMA set. Superbly printed. I don't know what used bookstores might sell these for.

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In the USA, I saw several copies ranging from $250USD to over $1100USD for the four volume set. The $1100 set was a bit of an outlier, a first edition signed by John Szarkowski. There were a couple of 4-book sets for $425-450.

I bought the least expensive set I saw today for $250.