Brassai - Paris De Nuit - 1987

"Paris de Nuit" (Paris by Night) is a seminal photography book by Hungarian-born photographer Brassaï (Gyula Halász), originally published in 1933. The 1987 Flammarion edition is a highly regarded reissue of this masterpiece, offering a striking, high-quality reproduction of the original work that defined urban nocturnal photography.

Celebred by novelist Henry Miller as "the eye of Paris," Brassaï used this collection to completely transform how the world viewed the French capital after dark.

The book functions as a poetic, gritty, and atmospheric journey through the shadows of 1930s Paris. Its core subjects include: Rain-soaked cobblestones, glowing streetlamps cutting through dense fog, bridges over the River Seine, and stark architectural silhouettes like Notre-Dame; Honest, non-judgmental portraits of the city's nightlife, including prostitutes, pimps, transvestites, street gangs, and pleasure-seekers in dimly lit bistros and dance halls; Figures: Street cleaners, bakers working at dawn, laborers, and vagrants living on the fringes of the glamorous city.

Text: Includes an introductory essay/foreword by noted French writer Paul Morand, who explores the mystique of the Parisian night.
Format: Large folio / hardcover format (typically around 96 pages).
Imagery: Features over 60 high-contrast, black-and-white (duotone) photogravure plates.
Layout: Employs the legendary full-bleed layout of the original edition, where the dark images run completely to the edges of the pages without white borders, pulling the reader directly into the night.

To capture these images in an era with very low-sensitivity film, Brassaï utilized a Voigtländer Bergheil plate camera mounted on a tripod. He mastered the use of ambient city light sources—such as neon signs, headlights, and gas lamps—and occasionally used flashbulbs to dramatically illuminate his subjects against pitch-black backgrounds, creating a rich, film-noir aesthetic.

Copy and DJ in near fine condition.