Nicknamed the "Eye of Paris" by Henry Miller, Brassaiuml; was one of the great European photographers of the twentieth century. This volume of letters and photographs, many published for the first time, chronicles the fascinating early years of Brassaiuml;'s life and artistic development in Paris and Berlin during the 1920s and 1930s. "[Brassaiuml;] is probably the only photographer--at least in France--to have acquired such a vast audience and mastered his material to such a degree that he can express himself with a flexibility and apparent ease that is almost literary in its nature."--Jean Gallien, Photo-Monde "The letters that Brassaiuml; wrote to his parents between 1920 and 1940 chronicle the sometimes painful stages by which this gifted man hauled himself from penury to celebrity."--Peter Hamilton, Times Literary Supplement "In these proud, protective, occasionally conscience-stricken missives, the young man full of eager dreams emerges as one of the century's pioneering photographers, revered for his lushly atmospheric portraits of Paris after dark."--Elle "A fascinating insight into how a bright individual slowly found his calling."--Christine Schwartz Hartley, New York Times Book Review.