Fête Vaugirard (Street Fair and Kiosk)

In addition to his interest in documenting the vanishing buildings and neighborhoods of Paris, Eugène Atget wished to record endangered aspects of Parisian life. Seasonal street fairs featuring merry-go-rounds, circuses with menageries, and collections of sideshow freaks were particularly appealing subjects of amusement. Although the fairgoers and sideshow attendants had dispersed by the time Atget made this photograph, litter on the pavement attests to their earlier presence.

Atget intended his photographs to be used as source material for artists, such as the noteworthy painter Maurice Utrillo, who modeled a 1927 painting on this image.