Walker Evans: American Photographs

My concern with this book was that it might be a pastiche of the original. This is not the case and I write to reassure others. This is a good facsimile and faithful to the original where possible. My recollection of leafing through an original copy (I did not own it) was that the plates were lush but definition was limited by the economics of the print process. This book surpasses the original providing duo-tone plates of remarkable quality. A beautiful and rewarding book, don't hesitate.

A beautifully produced classic.

Iconic. One day USA was not rich. Here are the pictures. Or only rich in patches - certain places. There was obviously a quantum leap in productive capacity during WW2 and the Korean War which must have created 'affluence'. But these pictures show the reality before that, when advertising was largely limited to a Coca-Cola sign. Wonderful photography. For baby boomers like myself, we can remember our societies without 'affluence', and thus connect with these photos. These picture show 'Life', as it was considered to be - an inevitable grind and struggle.

Great book of classic images. If you have any interest in photography then you should buy this book.

Very nice. Some classic images but plenty that just don't live up to the hype

Walker Evan's captures America in his unique distinct way, Graffiti, street signs, cars in the rain...images in sequence... by numbers. The layout and print quality of images is a true facsimile of the original... monochrome ... black and white, greys, texture, tones...

This is a reprint on decent paper of a MOMA classic publication. It contains many of Evans' best known images and as such is a valuable addition to anyone's library of 20th. century masters. Good value too,

Prints are good quality and resolution, book is well made. bargain. Must have for aspiring documentary photographers, students and lecturers.

Eccellente edizione per l'anniversario di un classico della fotografia. Stampato in Italia in Duotone, al contrario di molti libri del genere sempre più spesso stampati in Cina. Il lavoro di Evans ha influenzato così tanto i lavori di molti fotografi successivi, che questo volume non può mancare nella bibioteca di chiunque si interessi seriamente di fotografia, anche di chi non ne apprezza particolarmente il genere o lo stile. Specialmente in un periodo ove la fotografia, drogata dalla facilità del digitale prima e dagle smartphone poi, nuovamente "makes up in quantitative shock what it lacks in real testimony" - "sensationalize movement, distorts gesture, and caricatures emotions", come ben scrive Lincoln Kirstein nella postfazione parlando dell'allora boom della fotografia nei media. Riprendere in mano il lavoro di Evans, e seguire il filo conduttore delle foto - il libro è strutturato per essere visionato in sequenza, non per accedere casualmente alle foto - è un'immersione in un mondo di immagini che non cercano solo di appagare per un momento fuggevole l'occhio distratto, ma che invece sono sia preziose testimonianze del loro tempo, sia un'impareggiabiile poesia che non ha tempo.

LA PRIMERA EDICIÓN DATA DEL AÑO 1938. ÉSTA REIMPRESIÓN ES DEL 2012, MUY CUIDADA Y ESMERADA. SE TRATA DE UN VOLUMEN QUE DEBE ESTAR EN CUALQUIER LIBRERÍA DE ALGUIEN QUE AME LA FOTOGRAFÍA. ES TODO UN EJEMPLO DE UN TRABAJO BIEN HECHO, DESDE LA MIRADA DE UNO DE ESOS ARTISTAS QUE HAN CONSOLIDADO LA HISTORIA DE LA DISCIPLINA. Y LOS TEXTOS, ADEMÁS, ESTÁN TAMBIÉN A LA ALTURA. SIN DUDA, LO RECOMIENDO.

Réedition précieuse d’un superbe classique

Melhor livro de fotografia americano publicado antes da segunda guerra mundial. Livros de fotografia (principalmente os americanos) se dividem em antes e depois de American Photographs e The Americans. Vale cada centavo investido.

I first came to know Walker Evans' American Photographs from a copy of the original edition owned by an uncle who bought it in the MoMA gift shop during that show. That was a beautiful book, with a wide sweep of subject and treatment, and this 75th anniversary edition is amazingly close to the original, except without the wear and fading. Reviewers gush about beautiful photo reproduction all the time, so let me just say that it is outstanding, without any fault. And the rest: this is a very nice book, and it will last through years of perusing by many hands. The images I think are also a fine introduction to Evans' work and career, though this is an early book, it represents most of his fetishes: signage, rural poverty, Americana and pop-culture, informal portraiture and candids (several from his secret-subway series appear here for the first time and not again for thirty years in "Many Are Called'). I grow fonder of Evans' work all the time, and find more and more in it to tangle with. I hadn't seen "American Photographs" in 20+ years, and other re-issues haven't always been so solid and carefully put together. Happily this is, and I recommend it very strongly (and the price Amazon charges actually makes me feel guilty!).