Editorial Review

Just what kind of book is Read more

Reviews (21)

If nothing else, certainly brilliant and thought-provoking
Let us Now Praise Famous Men, in all its poetry and prose, reminds me of an epic, like the Hindu Mahabharata or Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. The lyrical narrative reveals just as much, if not more about Agee, than his subjects. His writing style excludes his subjects as readers.
Topic great, writers not so great.
The eloquence of composition surely necessitated infinite use of superlatives and verbs, resulting in a requisite painstaking remostrance to the reader, thus fettering the effusion and disembogulation of the document.In other words, wouldn't it have been better to just leave all of the fluff out of the book and just write as if the reader is someone other than the Queen of England?If you can weed through all of excessive use poems and verbs, it's a halfway decent book

I thought I hated it at points, but I've never been able to get it out of my head.
This book is an amazing work of art.At times it's baffling, and at times almost impertinent--like when the author decides to describe every object in an entire home, and yet in all these things and in all the conflicting emotions it evokes, it creates a mood and a feeling and a setting that will seep into your skin and fog your brain for months.
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Subjects:  1. 1909-1955    2. Agee, James,    3. Alabama    4. Description and travel    5. General    6. History    7. History - U.S.    8. History: American    9. Journeys    10. Poverty    11. Rural conditions    12. United States - 20th Century    13. United States - State & Local - General    14. 20th century    15. American history: from c 1900 -    16. History / United States / 20th Century    17. Social history    18. USA   

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    3. Fine Arts    4. Individual Photographer    5. Photography    6. Evans, Walker    7. Exhibitions    8. Individual photographers    9. USA   

Subjects:  1. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    2. Individual Photographer    3. Photo Techniques    4. Photoessays & Documentaries    5. Photography    6. Individual photographers   

Reviews (3)

A highly recommended book for anyone interested in Walker Evans
This is a thoughtful, and at times amusing, book
Walker Evans
This book gives an excellent example of Walker Evans. It shows the reader not only his style but also his feelings. The photos prove that Walker Evans is one of the greatest photographers of all time.

A personal and touching account of the artist's last years
The Last Years of Walker Evans Jerry L. Thompson Thames & Hudson, 1997Read more

Subjects:  1. Artists, Architects, Photographers    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Individual Photographer    7. Individual Photographers And Their Work    8. Photographers    9. Photography, Artistic    10. United States    11. Biography: general    12. Evans, Walker    13. Photography & Photographs   

Reviews (1)

Walker Evans at 101
"Stare. It is the way to educate your eye, and more. Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long." -- Walker Evans, c. 1960, from the afterword. Read more

Subjects:  1. History    2. Individual Photographer    3. New York    4. New York (State)    5. Photo Techniques    6. Photoessays & Documentaries    7. Photography    8. Pictorial works    9. Portrait photography    10. Subjects & Themes - Portraits    11. Subways    12. Art / General    13. Individual photographers    14. Photographs: collections    15. Second World War, 1939-1945    16. Trains & railways: general interest   

Reviews (1)

Great Book
This book is very informative of Walker Evans.It shows a wide variety of his work form portraiture to architecture, from the streets of New York to exotic places.It not only shows the works of art but also shows short blurbs about the place he was at and what was happening in his life; like why he was there and what he wanted out of the photo shoot.
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Subjects:  1. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    2. Individual Photographer    3. Photo Techniques    4. Photoessays & Documentaries    5. Photography    6. Photography / Individual Photographer   

Subjects:  1. Individual Photographer    2. Photography    3. Evans, Walker   

Editorial Review

In 1930 a disaffected young photographer in New York pointed his camera at two workers shoving a huge sign reading DAMAGED into a truck. With that image, Walker Evans gave birth to the quirky, edgy genre of street photography. Yes, this is the same Walker Evans famous for eye-level photographs of Alabama sharecroppers, rural churches and roadside signs. The special appeal of Read more

Subjects:  1. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    2. Individual Photographer    3. Photo Techniques    4. Photography    5. American History    6. Art and Architecture    7. Individual photographers    8. Photographs: collections    9. Photography / Individual Photographer   

Subjects:  1. General    2. Photo Essays    3. Photography    4. Photography / History   

Reviews (3)

Brings a period of American History to life...
Evans and the other photographers of the Depression were craftmen and artists who could reach into peoples' lives and portrait their hardships on photo paper. These photo skills are still being taught at the best Photography Schools. Woody did the same with music.

A good introduction
This is a good overview of Evans' photography, especially his early work.Evans was really the father of modernism and straightforward photography in the USA.If you are not familiar with his contributions, this little book is a good way to begin your studies.

A great primer on a long forgotten era
Whether you like the era of the 1930's or not, this book will give you a feel for the time and the places traveled by photographer Walker Evans. The photographs are superb technically, but it is the subjects that will remainin your memory long after you close the book. Evans's subjects are capturedwith dignity, and although you might be inclined to feel sorry for them,you are inevitably touched by the strength of these people. The book is agood introduction to Walker Evans and his feel for the human condition. Hisphotographs remind me alot of Dorothea Lange's. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    2. Individual Photographer    3. Photo Essays    4. Photoessays & Documentaries    5. Photography    6. Individual artists    7. Photographs: collections    8. Photography / Individual Photographer   

Reviews (1)

Secret and Excellent Documentary of America
'The Lost Work' refers to Walker Evans's own private collection of his B/W images - 'the prints that he chose to keep in his own print boxes for posterity'. He was probably the greatest documentary artist America has ever known. It presents the faces and lives of Americans in the late 1930s and then to the mid 1970s.Read more

Subjects:  1. 1903-1975    2. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    3. Documentary photography    4. Evans, Walker,    5. Individual Photographer    6. Photo Essays    7. Photoessays & Documentaries    8. Photography    9. Photography, Artistic    10. Evans, Walker    11. Individual photographers   

Reviews (2)

Instant Pictures!
This is a near perfect, and very moving book. As the editor says in his introduction, Walker Evans was an ailing, elderly statesman whose best photographs were seemingly behind him when he decided to use a Polaroid SX-70 camera. The results obtained over theyear or so that he photographed are startling. Here are examples of "seeing" in their purest form....the small intense prints are fading away as polaroids are apt to do, but they are exquisite and are simply the final amazing burst of creative activity of a master. The presentation here is great....one print per page, actual size and no text. Beautiful! Pure Composition
Superficially, this book of over 120 colour plates of Walker Evans' Polaroids could be categorised as a 'novelty' piece, much like the recent 'Ansel Adams in Color,' (Harry Callaghan, ed).Adams' colour work, however, never represented much more than a curious footnote in the master craftsman's career; Adams' overwhelming importance is in how he brought breathtaking drama to his prints through his use of the zone system, and a refined, exacting, approach to the printing process.Read more

Subjects:  1. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    2. Individual Photographer    3. Photo Essays    4. Photoessays & Documentaries    5. Photography    6. Individual photographers    7. Photographic equipment & techniques   

Editorial Review

For many people, Walker Evans's name conjures up visions of the rural American South of the 1930s, where the photographer made some of his most notable images. But signs--marking buildings; advertising grocery prices, churches, and cabarets; communicating political messages--transfixed him throughout his life. Evans was interested in all aspects of signs, from the typography and graphic layout to the messages they conveyed and the objects themselves. He collected nearly as many of them as he photographed and often exhibited actual signs alongside his photos. Andrei Codrescu, in the essay he wrote to accompany the images in Read more

Reviews (2)

Graphics / Black & White fans MUST BUY
Another beautiful collection from Walker Evans, showing his greatest photos of billboards, movie posters, newspaper headlines, theater marquees, graffiti, street signs, hand-painted shop frotns, covering 1920-1975. You will discover variety of ways to interpret the different layers of meanings from his photos with striking impression. It provides an excellent documentary about American culture. Walker Evans also collected and exhibited signs, sometimes next to his photographs, which brings his work into another level. From letters to graphics, from graphics to signs, sometimes people is becoming helpless under the mass media. Highly recommended for graphics / black and white fans.

Just Beautiful!
Walker Evans SIGNS are unique and wonderful. These images glow in there black and white surroundings. Some of the images are simple and delicate and other are busy and loud...a great mixure.Codrescu's essays give you a delightful walk through of Evans life.Andrei has an original insight...description of these signs from our past.There is excitment in theseessays...energy in which Evans must have had as he photographed theseimages.As you read on you will see Evans attraction to signs. I alsoenjoyed the layout of the book. The images have room to breath and the textis perfect. I was very happy to add this book with my collection ofphotography books. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1903-1975    2. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    3. Commercial Art    4. Evans, Walker,    5. History    6. Individual Photographer    7. Photo Essays    8. Photo Techniques    9. Photography    10. Photography As An Art    11. Photography, Artistic    12. Pictorial works    13. Signs and signboards    14. Art & Architecture | Photography    15. Evans, Walker    16. Photography / History   

Subjects:  1. 1903-1975    2. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    3. Evans, Walker,    4. Exhibitions    5. Hill, Marian    6. Individual Photographer    7. Photo Essays    8. Photograph collections    9. Photography    10. Photography, Artistic   

Subjects:  1. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    2. Documentary Photo Collections    3. General    4. Individual Photographer    5. Photo Essays    6. Photo Techniques    7. Photoessays & Documentaries    8. Photography    9. Photography As An Art    10. Photojournalism    11. Subjects & Themes - Travel - U.S./General   

Reviews (1)

Second Evans Title in Series a Success
"Walker Evans: Florida," following on the heels of last year's "Walker Evans: Signs," is the second volume in what I hope will become a series from the J.Paul Getty Museum.Revealing as well asentertaining, it presents the Getty's holdings of Florida photographs thatEvans made on assignment in 1941 for "The Mangrove Coast," withtext by Karl Bickel, published the following year. This is a lesser-knownbody of Evans's work, somewhat overshadowed by his monumental document ofthe Great Depression collected in the files of the Library of Congress, andin the pages of innumerable volumes since his original "AmericanPhotographs" and Let Us Now Praise Famous Men." The value of thissmall volume is that Evans's excellant Florida work is now back in print;and if his whole career is ever to be properly evaluated, then all of itsfacets must be fully examined.My only criticism is with the book's designand layout. As with "Walker Evans: Signs," the photographs areoften guttered and bled off the edge of the page, and the type is laid outin such an artsy way that it is often confusing. Evans would not haveapproved. The enjoyable introductory essay by Robert Plunket adeptlybalances information about Evans and West Florida, with personalexperiences of the author, a long time Sarasota resident. This is a bookthat all serious students of Evans will want to have. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    2. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions - General    3. Description and travel    4. Florida    5. Gulf Coast (Fla.)    6. Individual Photographer    7. Permanent Collection Catalogs    8. Photo Essays    9. Photography    10. Pictorial works    11. Subjects & Themes - Travel - U.S/South    12. United States - State & Local - General    13. Art & Architecture | Photography    14. Photographs: collections    15. Photography / Individual Photographer   

Reviews (5)

Matthew D. is in Kansas, not Cuba
As an individual who has been present watching countless Cuban young people snorting coke, smoking marijuana, prostituting themselves to tourists to feed their families while eating canned Russian dog food to keep from starving to death, I beg to differ with the basis for his "review".This book simply shows that the Cuban people suffered before the Castrista regime as they certainly continue to suffer today. The book is well done. It is a shame, however, that it was used as a format for Castrista blather and outright lies. I have been there. I have dedicated much of my adult life to the Cuban situation both on the island and in the diaspora and am the mother of two wonderful Cuban-American children whose Cuban family is hungry, NOT ALWAYS SMILING, without healthcare and with a progressively declining level of what was once an excellent educational system. Don't be fooled. If the Cuban people are smiling now, as many were before the revolution, it is because their sense of humor is a part of their resilliance that allows them to survive through one hellish regime after another.

to unravel Cuba
. I first took a look at the photographs in the book and I guess made a few assumptions about the pictures. Then, I actually took the time to really read the whole thing, then my previous opinions changed. See when a person first looks at photograph they don't see everything. After reading the text I really enjoyed what was said about each photograph. The descriptions took the photographs into a different setting and it broadened my view on matters. THEY DIDN'T SMILE AS MUCH BEFORE CASTRO!
Everybody knows the stereotype all too well of the joyous Cubans, with their 8-day Carnavals, incredible music and high culture.As someone who visits the island frequently (my wife lives there) the happiness of the people is so uplifting.The suicide rate is so much lower there.The murder rate is way below that of the US.It is a cocaine-free society because of all of the anti-cocaine canine patrols in the major cities.It's really a revelation being there.No drugs, no homelessness (the right to shelter is guaranteed under the Cuban constitution), a LOWER infant mortality rate than the United States, more doctors per capita than Canada, Sweden, and the US, a 97 per cent literacy rate.Read more

Subjects:  1. 1909-1933    2. California    3. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    4. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions - General    5. Cuba    6. Evans, Walker,    7. History    8. Individual Photographer    9. Individual Photographers And Their Work    10. Los Angeles    11. Permanent Collection Catalogs    12. Photo Essays    13. Photograph collections    14. Photography    15. Pictorial works    16. Subjects & Themes - Travel - World/South America    17. Aesthetics    18. Art & Architecture | Photography    19. Evans, Walker    20. Photographs: collections    21. Photography / Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions   

Subjects:  1. 1903-1975    2. Art    3. Documentary photography    4. Evans, Walker,    5. Exhibition Catalogs    6. Exhibitions    7. New York    8. New York (State)    9. Photography    10. Pictorial works    11. Subjects & Themes - Portraits    12. Subways    13. Evans, Walker    14. Individual artists    15. Museum, historic sites, gallery & art guides    16. Photographs: collections   

Editorial Review

In 1926 Walker Evans dropped out of Williams College and arrived in Paris to launch his career as a writer. Though his life there revolved around the renowned Shakespeare and Company bookstore, a mixture of introversion and disdain for American culture kept him at a remove from the now famous expatriate circle of the era, the Fitzgeralds, Hemingway, the Murphys, and Joyce among them. He spent most of his time abroad alone and picked up his camera from time to time to document his immediate world, making images of his boarding room and his own shadow against a wall. When he returned to the States, Evans began to dedicate more time to his hobby, and by the end of his long career had established himself as one of the most important modernist photographers. Read more

Reviews (2)

A delightful book.
This first full-length study of Walker Evans offers insights into his artistry and a fresh look at every state of his career.

A beautiful book
Walker Evans' photography rates amongst the best.His ability to capture a scene of everyday life and extract from it the beauty often overlooked by others is remarkable.The skill displayed in taking these photographsdemonstrates why he has earned an enduring reputation as a masterphotographer.An inspirational must have for amateurs and professionalsalike. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1903-1975    2. Artistic photography    3. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    4. Evans, Walker,    5. Exhibitions    6. Individual Photographer    7. Individual Photographers And Their Work    8. Photo Essays    9. Photography    10. Photography, Artistic    11. American History    12. Art and Architecture    13. Photography / Individual Photographer   

Editorial Review

Walker Evans, one of the 20th century's most important photographers, was also a talented and prolific writer. Read more

Reviews (3)

Unlocking the Enigma
What did I learn from this wonderful tome?Well, for one, it really fleshes out the seeming walking contradiction that was Walker Evans: A Bohemian who really *was* poor; A man so honestly in love with the French literature of his day that he went beyond the affectations of a dilletante and made some awkward attempts at his own stories, but also came up with some excellent translations; A progressive of the left who nonetheless had no use for New Deal phoney hacks; A man of letters, culture and taste who also had a great command over four letter words in his letters to Hans Skolle and James Agee (I love the "hatred for" lists compiled by the latter two -- totally politically incorrect). Nice addition to a photographer's library.
This anthology, traces the development of an American master, opening a window to his creative process and inner life.

Unclassified An Essential Miscellany of Evans Material
I was puzzled by this book when I first saw it: it seemed a strange miscellany of archival trivia with little of the unearthed treasure I had hoped to see direct from the official Evans archive. But upon reflection Ican see the method to Jeff Rosenheim & Company's "madness."This is less a book to read for enjoyment - although I have found it veryenjoyable - than an anthology of materials (writings, letters, photographs,collections) essential to a thorough understanding of Walker Evans, eitheras a photographer or as a person. It is the background material from whichhis life was constructed, and I cannot imagine any serious student of Evansneglecting to own it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Artistic photography    2. Biography    3. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    4. Exhibitions    5. Individual Photographer    6. Individual Photographers And Their Work    7. Photo Essays    8. Photographers    9. Photography    10. Photography, Artistic    11. United States    12. Individual photographers    13. Photographs: collections    14. USA