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A Hungarian transplant in Paris, Brassaï possessed an “infatuation with outcasts,” as he phrased it, and documented the characters of the city’s nocturnal underworld. His celebrated images, published in 1932 as Paris de nuit (Paris by Night), changed both the way people saw Paris and the way other photographers took pictures. Inspired by his late-night wanderings, the book depicts lovers and prostitutes, petty thieves and policemen, the lights of bars and the backstage areas of dance halls. This photograph of wet paving stones, lit by an artificial light outside the image’s frame, was featured on the cover of the book.