The paintings and works on paper of 2006 are the last installment of my work with the images of Eugene Atget. An early 20th century French photographer, Atget's photographs are a comprehensive view of the city of Paris at that time. When I first saw his pictures, I was immediately fascinated not only with the images, but also with my own response to them. How we relate the past to our modern lives through images pulled through history is the subject of my paintings. Six years ago I began working with the landscape images of Atget. Without knowing that I would become so immersed in the breadth of Atget's photographs, I have now come to the completion of the project with these new paintings of architectural and interior images. As my vicarious life in Paris of 1900 has seemed a bit surreal at times, it is fitting that the new work has assumed some of that quality. When nostalgic memory is explored, and shared histories are made clearer, hopefully we can make more sense of the question of authenticity in contemporary life.

--Peter Stephens, 2007