In this study of Brassai's complete oeuvre, the author analyzes Brassai's paradoxical position between documentary realism and surrealism in the France of the 1930s. She stresses the subjects he pursued most passionately: the shadowy Paris night, urban graffiti and the nature of creative genius.

An new volume in Photofile, the accessible and affordable photography series No photographer is more closely associated with a city than Brassai (1899–1984) is with Paris. From the moment he moved there in 1924, he devoted his life and art to immortalizing his adopted city—capturing the street life by day, the cafés and the Seine by night. A friend of Picasso and Henry Miller, Brassai knew and photographed the leading figures of his day—Giacometti, Sartre, Dalí, Matisse, and Mann among them. His most famous portraits and cityscapes, collected in this volume, form a unique vision of life in pre- and post-war Europe. The Photofile series brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive format and at an affordable price. Handsome and collectable, the books are produced to the highest standards. Each volume contains some sixty full page reproductions, a critical introduction and a full bibliography. The series was awarded the first annual prize for distinguished photographic books by the International Center of Photography.

Nicknamed the "Eye of Paris" by Henry Miller, Brassaï was one of the great European photographers of the twentieth century. This volume of letters and photographs, many published for the first time, chronicles the fascinating early years of Brassaï's life and artistic development in Paris and Berlin during the 1920s and 1930s. "[Brassaï] is probably the only photographer—at least in France—to have acquired such a vast audience and mastered his material to such a degree that he can express himself with a flexibility and apparent ease that is almost literary in its nature."—Jean Gallien, Photo-Monde "The letters that Brassaï wrote to his parents between 1920 and 1940 chronicle the sometimes painful stages by which this gifted man hauled himself from penury to celebrity."—Peter Hamilton, Times Literary Supplement "In these proud, protective, occasionally conscience-stricken missives, the young man full of eager dreams emerges as one of the century's pioneering photographers, revered for his lushly atmospheric portraits of Paris after dark."—Elle "A fascinating insight into how a bright individual slowly found his calling."—Christine Schwartz Hartley, New York Times Book Review

Roaming Paris streets by night in the early 1930s, Brassaï created arresting images of the city's dramatic nocturnal landscape.The back alleys, metro stations, and bistros he photographed are at turns hauntingly empty or peopled by prostitutes, laborers, thugs, and lovers.'Paris by Night', first published in French in 1932, collected sixty of these images, which have since become photographic icons.This new edition brings one of Brassaï's finest works back into print. 'Paris by Night' is a stunning portrait of nighttime in the City of Light, as captured by its most articulate observer.

Roaming Paris streets by night in the early 1930s, Brassa created arresting images of the city's dramatic nocturnal landscape. First published in French in 1932, this new edition brings one of Brassa's finest works back into print. The back alleys, metro stations, and bistros he photographed are at turns hauntingly empty or peopled by prostitutes, laborers, thugs, and lovers. "Paris by Night" is a stunning portrait of nighttime in the City of Light, as captured by its most articulate observer. 62 photos.