Jessica Hawkins reviews Brassaï

Gyula Halász was born in Hungary and rose to international fame after he moved to Paris in the interwar period, changing his name to Brassaï. He was a Hungarian-born French photographer but also a poet, draughtsman, and sculptor. He was many things but mainly known for his dramatic photographs of Paris at night. He associated with artists such as Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, Salvador Dali, and the writer Henry Miller. It's funny because he actually originally hated photography only using it in his journalistic assignments, but then began to love it's specific aesthetic. His early photographs focused on the nighttime world of Montparnasse the district in Paris known for its artists and streetwalkers.These were published in a book Paris de Nuit which got him attention because of the sometimes scandalous subject matter, but his next book , Voluptes de Paris made him internationally famous.