Walker Evans was the first photographer to capture my attention and esteem. Over the years I have accumulated a half dozen books of his photographs. WALKER EVANS: FIRST AND LAST is one of the least known of the Walker Evans photography books (this is the first Amazon review of it), but it is one of the best.
The book contains 219 photographs. They span Evans's career, from 1929 to 1973. Included are some of his most famous images. All in all, the book serves as a fine introduction to Evans. Perhaps the best feature in that regard is that there is very little commentary -- a three-sentence publisher's note on the first page and the blurbs on the rear cover. The reader is simply presented the photographs, via reproductions of above-average quality, and left to formulate her own opinions without any critical or explanatory intermediation to prejudge the matter. (At the end of the volume, there is a listing of bare-bones information for each photograph, including year taken and size of the original negative.)
The photographs are in rough but not precise chronological order. By and large, there is one photograph per page. Often the juxtaposition of facing photographs is witty or insightful, with shared motifs or some sort of symbiotic byplay.
Evans was not a nature photographer à la Ansel Adams. Though not a documentary social critic in the manner of W. Eugene Smith or Dorothea Lange, Evans focused on people, their artifacts, and their living conditions. (Evans himself described his work as "still photography of a general sociological nature.") FIRST AND LAST contains a representative sampling of the more common subjects or themes of Evans's, such as buildings (commonplace buildings rather than showpieces); signs, in all their commercial and utilitarian variety; company towns and housing; cityscapes and townscapes (in which overhead electrical lines proliferate); and the interiors of homes, usually humble. Most of all, people: the now-iconic pictures of Alabama sharecroppers from "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men"; portraits of the famous and (were it not for the brief moment of time when Evans shot and developed his photograph) the long forgotten; subway portraits; as well as street portraits from Chicago and Detroit.
I just conducted a quick internet search (including but not limited to the reseller listings on Amazon) of offerings of WALKER EVANS: FIRST AND LAST, and I found at least ten copies in decent condition -- some hardcover, some paperback -- for $25 or less. At that price, the book is an excellent purchase, whether it is your first or your sixth book of Evans's photographs.
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