A peanut seller in a cloud of steam, an old Model T among 1940s New York taxis, and haunting views of old Paris: these photos capture two great cities as they once were

A B&W street photograph shows a vendor standing proudly beside his pushcart laden with bags of peanuts and a roasting machine, with signs reading "Fresh Roasted Peanuts 5¢" against a city background. — The Battery, 1945 (Image credit: © Todd Webb / MUUS Collection)

It's Manhattan, 1945. A peanut seller leans on his cart as steam billows from the roaster. Signs offer fresh roasted peanuts for five cents.

A year later, on Fifth Avenue, an ageing Model T Ford rattles along incongruously beside a contemporary 1940s taxi, like a visitor from another era.

Both of these pictures were taken by American photographer Todd Webb, who spent the post-war years capturing life in New York and Paris. He was inspired by the French photographer Eugène Atget, who’d done similar work in Paris decades earlier, when the discipline was in its infancy.

A pioneer in Paris

At the turn of the 20th century, Atget captured the streets, shopfronts and markets of Paris. His pictures in the show include a cobbled street curving past the Gothic walls of the Église Saint-Séverin, and a flower market by the Seine.

A B&amp;W street-level photograph shows a historic European cobblestone alleyway lined with a large gothic stone church on the left and a tall multi-story building with old advertising signs on the right — Eglise Saint-Séverin, rue des Prêtres-Saint-Séverin (Image credit: ©Eugène Atget. Courtesy of Galerie Bruno Tartarin Paris)

A black-and-white outdoor shot captures a bustling European market scene with people walking along a pathway next to stone buildings, lampposts, and wicker baskets of flowers or greenery. — Le Marché aux Fleurs (Image credit: ©Eugène Atget. Courtesy of Galerie Bruno Tartarin Paris)

When Webb was introduced to Atget’s work by fellow American photographer Berenice Abbott, he sensed a guiding spirit, something you can see in his own Paris pictures.

In one, an ornately carved doorway stands half open onto a shadowy courtyard. In another, the camera peeks through a stone arch towards a riverside path lined with trees, bathed in heavenly light.

In a third, two boys stand on a cobbled street, one clutching a ball, both clutching their jackets in a way that suggests trepidation.

What unites these photographs with that of Atget’s is they both pull you into a scene, not by showing you everything, but in contrast, making you wonder, want to look around the corner to see more.

A black-and-white architectural photograph features a large, dark stone archway over a cobblestone path, looking through to a sunlit area with slender tree trunks beyond. — Arch Under Pont Neuf, Paris, 1948 (Image credit: © Todd Webb / MUUS Collection)

A b&amp;W close-up shot highlights an intricately carved wooden double door with one door slightly ajar revealing a glimpse of a courtyard with a bicycle inside. — Rue du Bac, Paris 1949 (Image credit: © Todd Webb / MUUS Collection)

Webb’s New York pictures take a similar approach. One looks across from the elevated Third Avenue railway at a run-down building covered in faded signs. Another combines the grand columns of the New York Stock Exchange with the dark silhouette of a George Washington statue.

A subtle interplay

The similarities between the two photographers are fascinating, but they're not the whole story. Curator David Campany points out that this is not a simple case of one copying another. “In their curiosity and openness Todd Webb’s photographs have a deep kinship with the work of Atget," he explains. It was not so much a case of influence, as affirmation.

"It is always heartening for a photographer to recognise a forebear," he adds. "Atget offered Webb a licence, wide and generous, to push his commitment to photography as both document and social poetry.”

The weathered brick facade of an old building featuring dormer windows, an external metal fire escape staircase, and large faded signage for paintings and signs. — From 3rd Ave El, New York, 1946 (Image credit: © Todd Webb / MUUS Collection)

The back view of a statue of George Washington in a cape, looking down toward the classical pillared facade of the New York Stock Exchange building across a city street. — New York Stock Exchange from Old Treasury Building, New York, 1959 (Image credit: © Todd Webb / MUUS Collection)

A classic early-model vintage car and a mid-century sedan driving past an ornate multi-story building with an American flag hanging from the facade. — Model T on 5th Ave, New York, 1946 (Image credit: © Todd Webb / MUUS Collection)

Todd Webb & Eugène Atget: Senses of Place is at Paris Photo, Grand Palais, 3 Avenue du Général Eisenhower, Paris, on booth P01, from November 12 to 15 2026. Opening hours are 1pm to 8pm, closing at 7pm on Sunday.

David Campany will give a talk at the Grand Palais on Wednesday November 11, the day before the fair opens. On November 14, MUUS Collection will also announce the winner of its first Research Fellowship.

Tom May is a freelance writer and editor specializing in art, photography, design and travel. He has been editor of Professional Photography magazine, associate editor at Creative Bloq, and deputy editor at net magazine. He has also worked for a wide range of mainstream titles including The Sun, Radio Times, NME, T3, Heat, Company and Bella.