To have pinpointed this new stage constitutes the incomparable significance of Atget, who, around 1900, took photographs of deserted Paris streets.
It has quite justly been said of him that he photographed them like scenes of crime.
The scene of a crime, too, is deserted. it is photographed for the purpose of establishing evidence.
With Atget, photographs become standard evidence for historical occurrences, and acquire a hidden
political significance. ... WALTER BENJAMIN

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