Restaurant, Boulevard St Michel
Photograph
ca. 1954-5 (photographed)
ca. 1954-5 (photographed)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
John Deakin’s photographs of Parisian street life were well received, as this contemporary review from The Times highlights: ‘Mr Deakin has an astonishing eye for the peculiar hidden in the ordinary: where the casual observer sees only a shop-front or the façade of a house, Mr Deakin sees one side of Alice’s looking glass, and the infinite mysteries that lie behind it’.
Object details
Category | |
Object type | |
Title | Restaurant, Boulevard St Michel (generic title) |
Materials and techniques | photography |
Brief description | 'Restaurant, Boulevard St Michel', photograph by John Deakin (1912-72), Paris, ca.1954-5 |
Physical description | Photograph of diners in a Paris restaurant, on the Boulevard St Michel; the view depicts the diners through the window, with items from the menu hand-written on its surface. |
Dimensions |
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Credit line | Copyright John Deakin Archive |
Object history | John Deakin made portraits of celebrities and of his bohemian circle of friends in London's Soho in the early 1950's. Deakin wanted to be a painter rather than a photographer and neglected his photographs: the majority have been destroyed or damaged. In part, his attitude reflected the general status of photography in Britain in the 1950's, as an undervalued artistic medium. After his dismissal from Vogue he photographed street scenes in Paris and Rome. Deakin’s reputation was re-evaluated following an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1984. |
Subjects depicted | |
Summary | John Deakin’s photographs of Parisian street life were well received, as this contemporary review from The Times highlights: ‘Mr Deakin has an astonishing eye for the peculiar hidden in the ordinary: where the casual observer sees only a shop-front or the façade of a house, Mr Deakin sees one side of Alice’s looking glass, and the infinite mysteries that lie behind it’. |
Collection | |
Accession number | PH.87-1984 |
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Record created | August 5, 2003 |
Record URL |
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