LYCOS RETRIEVER 
France: United States
built 647 days ago
France lost its position in the field of avant-garde photography until the 1930s. The exception, of course, was Eugène Atget, whose work (with hindsight) successfully synthesized the literal recording of reality and the formal innovations of ‘pure’ photography. But Atget was an isolated figure, and did not become a force to be reckoned with until the 1930s, when his work was discovered by the avant-gardes. He had no contact with or influence on the French photographic world of the pre-1914 period, which wore itself out with theoretical debates about the artistic status of the medium.Sylvie AubenasJammes, A., and Janis, E. Parry, The Art of French Calotype (1983). Brettell, R., Flukinger, R., Keeler, N., and Kilgor, S., Paper and Light: The Calotype Process in France and Britain 1839-1870 (1984). Buerger, J. E., French Daguerreotypes (1989).
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France is a founding member of the European Union, and its largest member state with respect to land area. France is ... a founding member of NATO and the UN, and a permanent member of the UN Security Council. It is one of only seven acknowledged nuclear powers in existence.
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Louis XV (1715–74) inherited a unified France, but a France still burdened by the remnants of feudalism. The “absolute” power of the king was hedged in by a stupendous multitude of dusty charters and special privileges—often granted to remove the recipients from national politics—held by families, guilds, monopolies, communes, and provinces, and by the clergy and nobles. Taxes, although onerous, were raised inefficiently and inequitably, partly by the farmers general (see farming, in taxation), partly by the state. Commerce, based on mercantilism, was hampered by restrictive regulations, monopolies, and internal tariff barriers. Rural overpopulation outstripped the stagnant agricultural productivity. Colbert had reorganized the administration by curtailing the power of the provincial governors and by reestablishing the administrative units called intendancies, originated by Richelieu.
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During the fall 2002 and winter 2003 diplomatic wrangling at the United Nations over Iraq, France repeatedly defied the U.S. and Britain by calling for more weapons inspections and diplomacy before resorting to war. Relations between the U.S. and France have remained severely strained over Iraq.
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With over 77 million tourists a year, France is ranked as the major tourist destination in the world, ahead of Spain (51.7 million) and United States (41.9 million). It features cities of high cultural interest (Paris being the foremost), beaches and seaside resorts, ski centres and rural regions that many enjoy for their beauty and tranquility.
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Roman Catholicism is by far the largest religion in France, nominally professed by about 80% of the population, although only an estimate 5% are churchgoers. With growing immigration from Asia, Turkey, and North Africa, France ... has a large Muslim population, estimated at 3 to 5 million. There are smaller numbers of Protestants and Jews. Separation of church and state was made final by law in 1905. The educational level in France is high. Among the universities the largest are those of Paris, Lyons, Toulouse, Aix-Marseilles, Bordeaux, Lille, Montpellier, Strasbourg, Rennes, Grenoble, and Nancy.
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