Walker Evans

[Ash]

Yesterday I was lucky enough to go to a local theatre to see Evans' photographs in the lobby. There were a fair few up, I'm not familiar with a lot of Evans work but it was great to see none-the-less.

To me they all appeared to be in whole-plate size, apart from a auto-dump shot that was cropped.

[C Henry]

Ash
Where exactly?
and can anyone go and have a look?

(since I'm only on the other side of the M4 in Wilts)

[Michael Graves]

I'm a Walker Evans fan and have several of his books. When I was at University of Arizona, they had a substantial number of his prints in their collection and they were very impressive to look at. He used several cameras over the years, but the bulk of his work was 8x10 or 4x5.

[j.e.simmons]

According to one Evans book I've read, he frequently cropped by cutting his negative. I'm not sure you can go by print size to interpret camera size with his work.
juan

[Michael Alpert]

There are a number of Walker Evans's photographs made with a whole-plate-size camera. The well-known photograph of a rain-drenched street taken from his Saratoga Springs hotel room is of that size. That and other original prints from upstate New York have a sparkle that is terrific. Those who say that Evans did not care about print quality are, from what I've seen, mistaken.

[gbogatko]

And don't forget HERE:

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/browse/ListSome.php?format=Photograph

There's a ton of Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange ("Migrant Mother" is here), Ansel Adams at the Library of Congress, and

-- A LOT OF IT IS SCANNED NEGATIVES (Lots of Evans)
-- MOST OF IT IS PUBLIC DOMAIN!!!! (because it was taken under Gov. Contract)

A wonderful site.

George

[janepaints]

He used several cameras over the years, but the bulk of his work was 8x10 or 4x5.

....or 9x12cm or 35mm or 6x6cm or Polaroid SX-70 or anything else with a lens :)

There's a good documentary about Evans.
I forget the title--the local library has it on VHS.

Produced for PBS TV?--part of their 'American Masters' series?
Includes interviews with Evans, his friends, relatives, critics, fellow photographers.

Has footage of Walker at work with a Rollei.

Do some googling...info on it is surely out there. It's a treat.

[Robbie Shymanski]

There is a book called "Walker Evans at Work" that was put out around 1983, I believe for a show. It shows his work and explains his techinique in his own words, mostly through his writings and corespondences. There is a good deal of explanation of his use of lenses, cameras, and his editing process across his entire career. It also has variations of his well known photographs.

[Ash]

The show is at the Wyvern Theatre in Swindon - go to the town centre and follow the road signs (mainly one-way). There's a pay-per-hour car park there too.

[C Henry]

Thanks Ash, you're a gent.

[Doug Howk]

On this side of the pond, the exhibit "Ernest Hemingway and Walker Evans: Three Weeks in Cuba, 1933" will be at the Cummer Museum in Jacksonville this coming March. Check out Walker Evans Cuba book for a preview.