Tod Papagreorge's analysis of Brassai's character and nature of his work in this essay is directly based off of one word, "demonically", that Brassai uses in a letter home to his parents. Papageorge talks about how the use of this one word in a letter to his parents whom he loved, yet told to "love him blindly" because he did not wish to ever return home from Paris (even though his parent's funerals), describes why he chose to photograph the risqué Paris nightlife, instead of "regular" day time. Could his rebellion to stay in Paris to pursue his passions influence his photographs? Brassai did choose to photograph scenes or bars and nightclubs, lust, promiscuity, sexuality etc. And according to certain philosophers such as Freud, these subject matter could be directly related to a certain part of his brain, more specifically his Id. The Id of a person (according to Freud) is the part of your brain that is the "sinner". This part of your mind is what drives your passion, sexual intentions, curiosity etc. anything that supplies us with sincere pleasure in an unconscious way. According to this theory, Brassai's Id may have guided him to not only seek his passions in life (writing and photography in Paris) that gave him pleasure over being home, as well as came through in his images as they are filled with different subjects of pleasure or in the pursuit of pleasures and passion.
That being said, this could also just be an over-analysis. Brassai also served for the Austrian-Hungary calvary in 1917-1918 in WWI. He then moved to Paris to seek his passions and never to return home. This pursuit may have also been a response to working for WWI. No matter what the reasoning is however, we cannot deny that Brassai had a way of capturing Paris night life and some daytime scenes in a surreal, eerie way. He used long exposures with a flasbulb that, if didn't match perfectly, would create a less natural light which Brassai thought added to the straightforwardness of his photographs. Whether his words to his parents and work of art showcased "demonically" is accurate or not, his passion to follow his dreams and stay in Paris will always be an influence in the field of Photography.
Images of Brassai's work:
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| Streetwalker, Rue Quincampoix, c. 1931 |
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| `Un costume pour deux', Magic City c.1931 |
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| Couple d'Amoureau Assis, Bal Musette des Quatre Saisons, Rue de Lappe, c. 1932 |
Sources Referenced:
Brassai: Reflection on a Word - A talk at Yale by Tod Papageorge.
http://www.atgetphotography.com/The-Photographers/BRASSAI.html
http://www.romanianculture.org/personalities/Brassai.htm
http://www.houkgallery.com/artists/brassai/
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