This is a facsimile edition of one of the ‘classic’ photography books of the century. Originally published in 1954, and long since out of print, it has been avidly sought by photographers and collectors alike. The book focuses on the Left Bank of Paris at the time when the area was recognised as a centre of creative ferment and the home of the artists, writers and aesthetes who would determine the cultural agenda of a generation. With its unconventional, gritty, snapshot-like technique the work was acclaimed as expanding the boundaries of documentary photography.

Vali Myers, the Australian artist, featured in this book as ‘Ann’, was born in 1930 in Sydney. A self taught artist, she was already a leading dancer in Melbourne before leaving for Paris in 1949. During the post-war years, living in the streets and cafés of St.Germain des Prés, she continued to dance and draw. Later Vali travelled extensively and became internationally known as an artist. She founded the Il Porto Wildlife Oasis, near Positano, Italy and has her own studio-gallery in Melbourne.