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XL
XL books are at least 34 cm (13.4 in.) high, with the exception of landscape-format titles

Paris. Portrait of a City

70Edition: Multilingual (English, French, German)Availability: In Stock
Built on two millennia of history, Paris is as much a city to fall in love with as a city to photograph. This visual companion to the French metropolis brings together the chic spirit of the city of light through hundreds of meticulously researched images, from some of the very earliest pictures ever taken of Paris—by Louis Daguerre and Henry Fox Talbot—to iconic images of its fashion, art, and architecture.
Hardcover9.8 x 13.4 in.9.12 lb544 pages
“A luminous, voluminous portrait of Paris. Edited with an expert eye, the TASCHEN book shows off the city in many lights.”
International Herald Tribune
“Passionnant patchwork croisant les temps et les angles d’approches, les esthétiques aussi, voilà un recueil d’images à consulter sans modération.”
Le Monde des Beaux Livres
XL
XL books are at least 34 cm (13.4 in.) high, with the exception of landscape-format titles
Paris. Portrait of a City

Paris. Portrait of a City

70

L'air de Paris

The vivid history of the capital of love and photography

A city built on two millennia of history, Paris is entering the third century of its love story with photography. It was on the banks of the Seine that Niépce and Daguerre officially gave birth to this new art that has flourished ever since, developing a distinctive language and becoming a vital tool of knowledge.

Paris: Portrait of a City leads us through what Goethe described as a “universal city where every step upon a bridge or a square recalls a great past, where a fragment of history is unrolled at the corner of every street.” The history of Paris is recounted in photographs ranging from Daguerre’s early incunabula to the most recent images—an almost complete record of over a century and a half of transformations and a vast panorama spanning more than 600 pages and 500 photographs.

This book brings together the past and the present, the monumental and the everyday, objects and people. Images captured by the most illustrious photographers—Daguerre, Marville, Atget, Lartigue, Brassaï, Kertész, Ronis, Doisneau, Cartier-Bresson, and many more—but also by many unknown photographers, attempt to bottle just a little of that “Parisian air,” something of that particular poetry given out by the stones and inhabitants of a constantly changing city that has inspired untold numbers of writers and artists over the ages.

Presenting an exciting patchwork of images from past and present, Paris: Portrait of a City is a huge and unique photographic study that, in a way, is the true family album of all Parisians. It is to them, and to all lovers of this capital city, that this vibrant, loving, and tender testimony is dedicated.
The editor and author

Jean Claude Gautrand (1932–2019) was one of France’s most distinguished experts on photography. An active photographer since 1960, he also made a name for himself as a historian, journalist, and critic, with numerous publications including his TASCHEN books on Brassaï (2004), Paris. Portrait of a City (2011), Robert Doisneau (2014), and Eugène Atget. Paris (2016).

Paris. Portrait of a City
Hardcover25 x 34 cm4.14 kg544 pages

ISBN 978-3-8365-0293-1

Edition: Multilingual (English, French, German)
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Exhibition

September 08, 2024 - January 19, 2025

Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment

National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, United States

4.8

/5

5 Ratings

A fascinating historical portrait of Paris

Ines,November 7, 2021
A fascinating historical account of an iconic city, spanning nearly 200 years. Hours of delightful browsing guaranteed.

Vivid picture of the city

Carolina,October 28, 2021
This beautiful book conveys the atmosphere of Paris, through a collection of pictures from different periods, different parts of the city, and aspects of its daily life. You can find yourself daydreaming while browsing it...

Fast Delivery and Well Packed

Bernardo,October 27, 2021
Extremely fast delivery. The book was delivered in really good conditions

Paris is even more amazing in this book

Philip,October 27, 2021
The photography is awesome. What can I say - it's Paris.

Paris, je t'aime

Rita,September 15, 2021
Beautiful book, made me fall in love with Paris all over again.