WALKER EVANS, written by James R. Mellow, is the biography of the brilliant American photographer who captured the country in black and white stills, starting in the 1920s.
Mellow’s comprehensive 654 pages traces Evans’ life from birth in 1903 through 1955, where Mellow’s text abruptly ends. This is due to the untimely death of the author. A year-by-year summary of Evans’ life from 1957-1975 taken from Mellow’s notes follows, along with a list of footnotes, a ten-page list of credits for the included photos, a brief chronology, selected bibliography, and an index.
Walker Evans was a contemporary of Berenice Abbott, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Margaret Bourke-White, and Ansel Adams (whom he did not admire), and he seemed to be acquainted with just about everyone in the artistic elite circle of the day, whether they be photographers, writers, or painters. From drinking with Ernest Hemingway in Havana, to collaborating with poet/writer James Agee for LET US NOW PRAISE FAMOUS MEN, his life was always intertwined with the who’s-who.
Having first aspired to be a writer, Evans left lots of notes, lists, and correspondence from which to extract the story of his life, and Mellow uses them to fine effect.
With Evans’ classic book, AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHS, being reissued in early 2009, now is a good time to learn about the man behind the camera.
I’m keeping this book! It is a great resource!
~Stephanie ( )