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1927

Photographs Eugène Atget shortly before his death

She manages to persuade Eugène Atget to sit for a portrait; he dies shortly thereafter.

1927

Returns to Paris and opens a second studio

After a short time studying photography in Berlin she returns to Paris and starts a second studio on the rue Servandoni.

June 1928

Buys the remainder of Atget’s archive

The government has already acquired much of Atget’s archive — he had sold 2,621 negatives in 1920, and his friend and executor André Calmettes sold 2,000 more immediately after his death; in June 1928 Abbott buys the remainder and quickly starts work on its promotion. Because of a lack of funding she has to sell a one-half interest in the collection to Julien Levy for $1,000.

early 1929

Travels to New York to find a publisher for Atget

In early 1929 she visits New York, ostensibly to find an American publisher for Atget’s photographs, and on seeing the city again recognises its photographic potential.

September 1929

Closes her Paris studio and returns to New York

Back in Paris she closes up her studio and in September 1929 returns to New York, where over the next decade she focuses on documentary photography and on portraying the city as it transforms into a modern metropolis. She brings over a large part of Atget’s archive; her first photographs are taken with a hand-held Kurt-Bentzin camera, soon replaced by a Century Universal producing 8 × 10-inch negatives.

1930

The book “Atget, photographe de Paris” is published

An early tangible result of her efforts is the 1930 book “Atget, photographe de Paris”, in which she is described as photo editor.