One of the finest photography books ever.

I wrote a couple of years ago about Hungarian master photographer Brassaï and made mention of his great book Paris de Nuit in that piece.

I finally tracked down a remaindered copy of this book and the first word that comes to mind is electric, for that best describes the emotive power of these images.

Originally published in 1933, I recall first seeing it in the Kensington Public Library in West London around 1965 or so and recall well how thrilling the work was. This edition includes 62 gorgeously reproduced plates on very heavy, black paper, and you really have to look at the photographs in daylight to get the full depth of tones, all the way down to the inkiest of blacks. This friend of over 45 years remains as fresh and exciting today as it was all that time ago and, were I to compile a list of the ten most essential books of photographs, it would be there without a doubt.

While night photography is not my thing, these images speak not just of superb technique but to the work of one of the greatest photographers of the time who preserves the wonderful city of Paris for modern times. Mercifully, the French have done relatively little to destroy their city (can you say Musée Pompidou or I. M. Pei’s ghastly Louvre pyramid?) and in many places it probably looks little changed today.

Whereas O. Winston Link, the other great night photographer, used his own lighting, Brassaï uses what the city gives him, to haunting effect.

This scan scarcely does the original justice, but the atmosphere is so powerful I swear you can smell the women’s scent when you look at it. Magic.

No wonder that Paris was such a magnet for artists between the wars.