Walker Evans: American Photographs (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Lincoln Kirstein (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Errata Editions' Books on Books series is an ongoing publishing project dedicated to making rare and out-of-print photography books accessible to students and photobook enthusiasts. These are not reprints or facsimiles but complete studies of the original books. Each volume in the series presents the entire content, page for page, of an original master bookwork which, up until now, has been too rare or expensive for most to experience. Through a mix of classic and contemporary titles, this series spans the breadth of photographic practice as it has appeared on the printed page and allows further study of the creation and meanings of these great works of art. Each volume in the series contains illustrations of every page in the original photobook, a new essay by an established writer on photography, production notes about the creation of the original edition and biographical and bibliographical information about each artist.
Walker Evans' American Photographs is arguably the most important photobook ever published. Originally conceived as a catalogue to accompany Evan's one-man show at The Museum of Modern Art in 1938, it has been out of print for many long stretches of time. Books on Books 2 presents the original 1938 edition with the 87 legendary black-and-white photographs that defined the documentary-style aesthetic. This volume also reproduces Lincoln Kirstein's great original essay as well as a contemporary piece by John T. Hill, the author of many books on Evans, including Lyric Documentary, published by Steidl in 2006. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

About the Author

"More than any other artist, Walker Evans (1903-1975) invented the image of essential America that we have long since accepted as fact. Evans did most of his best work in the 1930s, and his pictures have been celebrated as documents of the Great Depression. But his concerns ranged far beyond the troubles of the 1930s, and his work has made its impact not only on photography but also on modern literature, film and the traditional visual arts." --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Museum of Modern Art (September 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870702688
• ISBN-13: 978-0870702686
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,925,429 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Great idea, horrible execution, February 3, 2009

By	M. E. Campbell (CA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Walker Evans: American Photographs (Books on Books) (Hardcover)

I was really looking forward to the arrival of this book since I had heard that it was being reissued. I was crushed, however, when I opened it to find that it was literally a photocopy of an original book. Many of the pages of this book contain four pages of the original, two of which are blank pages. So now you have these classic, large-format (8x10 I assume) originals reproduced at around 3x2 in. What a waste of time. I bought the Atget book from the same company and it's the same story. Both of these are going back promptly.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Why Bother, February 3, 2009

By	M. Limbert (Detroit, MI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Walker Evans: American Photographs (Books on Books) (Hardcover)

Sure, it's a noble idea to make "...Rare and out-of-print photography books accessible to students and photobook enthusiasts." But when it's at the expense of the content - the PHOTOGRAPHS - I have to ask WHY BOTHER. This is a compromised reprinting of an original published edition of "American Photographs" which here is re-photographed from vintage book spreads and is painfully reproduced, sometimes half-size, sometimes seemingly 1/4 size. Now honestly, what value can be obtained from a photograph of a photograph that was originally printed in a book from 1938 now reprinted at 3 inches by 2 inches? Why not just reset the entire book in the original order with fresh image prints on full-sized plates and original readable typed commentary in an effective size bigger than 2pt? What is more important, the color and condition of the 1938 paper or the photographs? Foolish. This book is being returned. I enjoyed it more when I didn't own it.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Major Disappointment, March 22, 2009

By	JB (Richmond, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Walker Evans: American Photographs (Books on Books) (Hardcover)

This book (and the one on Atget which I also bought) was a major disappointment. While this may be a re-presentation of the work as originally published, the photographs are reproduced in almost miniature scale. Little value for the price, in my view.