Date of Birth

• 12 February 1857 in Libourne.

Education

• He worked as a sailor during his youth.

• After school Atget signed on to a merchant vessel as a cabin boy, and returned to Paris around 1878.

• In early 1879 (age 22)  he was admitted to the National Conservatory of Music and Drama to study acting, but he was dismissed within two years.

Life events that affect art

• His parents died while he was young. 

• He lived in Paris by the age of 21.  

• Was drafted by the army in 1878.

Before Photography

• He spent several years in traveling troupes that performed for the lower levels of the theatrical audience with little success.

Why photography

• At forty he quit acting, and after a tentative experiment with painting Atget became a photographer.