Pierre Mac Orlan (1882–1970)

Unsatisfying. Series of scenes of low life. Characters rather too aware of themselves to be credible and no discernible plot to hold them together. Dostoevsky without the story and the soul. J'ai abandonné...

This book shows the beauty and degradation of 1930s Paris, with photographs of everything from the Eiffel Tower and carousels to the struggles of the poor in the city.
André Kertész’ scarce second photobook, Paris, precedes his well-known Day of Paris (1945) by over a decade and features the first publication of many images reprinted there—such as “Les Berges du Quai du Louvre,” “Quai D’Orsay” and “La Fontaine Médicis.” “Like so many other exiled European artists, show more Kertész left Paris before the German invasion,” not long after publication of this premiere work (Roth, 114). As John Szarkowski notes, ever since Kertész “began photographing in 1912 he sought the revelation of the elliptical view, the unexpected detail, the ephemeral moment… a sense of the sweetness of life, a free and childlike pleasure in the beauty of the world and the preciousness of sight” (Looking, 92). It is here, in this luminous, rarely found photobook, that we find “the best of Kertész’ humanist documentary imagery, made between 1925 and 1935 when he lived in Paris” (Parr & Badger I:200). Text in French by noted critic Pierre Mac Orlan. First edition, published in wrappers only; as issued without dust jacket. See Open Book, 138. show less

Pierre Mac Orlan, sometimes written MacOrlan (born Pierre Dumarchey, February 26, 1882 – June 27, 1970), was a French novelist and songwriter.

His novel Quai des Brumes was the source for Marcel Carné's 1938 film of the same name, starring Jean Gabin. He was also a prolific writer of chansons, many of which were recorded and popularized by French singers such as Juliette Gréco, Monique Morelli, Catherine Sauvage, Francesca Solleville, and Germaine Montero.

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