What do you think?
Rate this book
Walker Evans
Walker Evans, more than any other photographer in the thirties and forties, defined the documentary aesthetic. For over four decades he used his camera precisely and lucidly to record the American experience. He is generally acknowledged as America's finest documentary photographer of this century. He attempted to show both the beauty of his subjects and the horror of the social situations in which they lived. During the Depression, from 1935 to 1937, Evans took part in the most extensive photographic project ever carried out in the United States-the pictorial survey of the Farm Security Administration. The now-legendary collaboration with James Agee that resulted in the masterpiece Let Us Now Praise Famous Men documents his dedication to photographing the country he knew.Evans's talented eye and sensitive heart make him one of the great photographers of this century. This volume contains many of his best-known images.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1903, Walker Evans studied at the Sorbonne in Paris in 1926-27. Mainly self-taught as a photographer, he worked freelance in New York starting in 1928. He was part of Roy Stryker's Farm Security Administration project as a staff photographer in the Southern United States from 1935 to 1937. From 1945 to 1965 he was an associate editor and photographer for Fortune magazine. After retiring from professional photography in 1965, he became a professor at Yale University, where he taught generations of young photographers in documentary approach. Evans received three Guggenheim Fellowships, as well as many other awards, and his work is included in museum collections around the world. He died in 1975 in New Haven, Connecticut.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1903, Walker Evans studied at the Sorbonne in Paris in 1926-27. Mainly self-taught as a photographer, he worked freelance in New York starting in 1928. He was part of Roy Stryker's Farm Security Administration project as a staff photographer in the Southern United States from 1935 to 1937. From 1945 to 1965 he was an associate editor and photographer for Fortune magazine. After retiring from professional photography in 1965, he became a professor at Yale University, where he taught generations of young photographers in documentary approach. Evans received three Guggenheim Fellowships, as well as many other awards, and his work is included in museum collections around the world. He died in 1975 in New Haven, Connecticut.
189 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1971
25 people want to read
About the author
John Szarkowski
70 books30 followersJohn Szarkowski was an American photographer and curator best known for his role as the director of the Museum of Modern Art’s Photography Department from 1962 through 1991. “Photography is the easiest thing in the world if one is willing to accept pictures that are flaccid, limp, bland, banal, indiscriminately informative, and pointless,” he once explained. “But if one insists in a photograph that is both complex and vigorous it is almost impossible.”
Born Thaddeus John Szarkowski on December 18, 1925 in Ashland, WI, he went on receive a degree in art history from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1948. After working as a museum photographer at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, he moved to Buffalo to teach photography. The artist then relocated to Chicago, where he worked on his photobook The Idea of Louis Sullivan (1956). After his appointment at MoMA in 1962, Szkarowski would help launch the careers of Diane Arbus, Lee Friedlander, and William Eggleston, among several others during his tenure. He also published acclaimed books on the history of photography, including The Photographer’s Eye (1966) and Looking at Photographs: 100 Pictures from the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art (1973).
After retiring from the museum in 1991, Szarkowski resumed his own career in photography. He died on July 7, 2007 in Pittsfield, MA. Today, the artist’s works are held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, among others.
Born Thaddeus John Szarkowski on December 18, 1925 in Ashland, WI, he went on receive a degree in art history from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1948. After working as a museum photographer at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, he moved to Buffalo to teach photography. The artist then relocated to Chicago, where he worked on his photobook The Idea of Louis Sullivan (1956). After his appointment at MoMA in 1962, Szkarowski would help launch the careers of Diane Arbus, Lee Friedlander, and William Eggleston, among several others during his tenure. He also published acclaimed books on the history of photography, including The Photographer’s Eye (1966) and Looking at Photographs: 100 Pictures from the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art (1973).
After retiring from the museum in 1991, Szarkowski resumed his own career in photography. He died on July 7, 2007 in Pittsfield, MA. Today, the artist’s works are held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, among others.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
