The Most Influential American Photographer EVER // Walker Evans

[@stuartschwartz5341]

Bravo! Your mix of history and insightful commentary is refreshing and stands above the throng of gear reviews and how-to videos. I took a seminar with Walker Evan’s in 1972 when I was an undergraduate. He was a fellow in the school of art and architecture, and I managed to con my way into his graduate class, where we listened raptly to the stories behind the work you so ably documented. His amanuensis, a photographer and grad student named Jerry Thompson, later wrote a book about Walker’s last years that you might find interesting. P.S. the black Dr. Strangelove gloves are a nice touch.

[@developingtank]

Thank you! I’ll have a look into that book. Sounds like it would be very helpful for a piece I’m working on about photographers’ last projects. Did you have get any other cool experiences with legends of photography in that class? It sounds unbelievably awesome.

[@stuartschwartz5341]

@@developingtankwhen I was 16 I took a studio class with a great Life magazine photographer named Ken Heyman. The class was at night, and after he looked over my portfolio he gave me a skeptical look and asked me if my parents would let me stay out late at night. Those were the good old days before helicopter parenting, so of course I said yes. Every Thursday night one of the guys in the class gave me a ride back uptown on his Harley. Heyman was a large man, not someone who would go unnoticed in a crowd, but he had a simple technique, which he demonstrated for us, which allowed him to stand next to someone and take their picture without them being aware that they were his subject. Photography was considered to be more of a trade than an art back then, so pretty much anyone could sign up to be tutored by a working photographer looking to make a little extra income.

[@developingtank]

@stuartschwartz5341 that is so cool. I’m truly envious of these kinds of experiences that seem to be harder to come by these days.

[@jamesheath9089]

I too was in a Herman night class at The School of Visual Arts. I was amazed that a very big guy like him could get so close to people with a Leica and 21mm lens and pull off perfectly timed shots with no distortion! I’m sorry he’s no longer with us, I so much appreciate his fine work.

[@jamesheath9089]

Error: not Herman but Heyman!

[@KieranOCarroll]

Thank you. You know this already but it bears repeating. You produce some of the best photography insights on the Internet. Live long and prosper. Slainte!

[@developingtank]

Thank you! The comments really help me keep going and this channel to grow. I appreciate you!

[@ColtonMatocha]

Love when a video has no 2-5 minute sponsor break. Just a good story and interesting photographs!

[@developingtank]

No BS is the goal here. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@SlavaVeres]

Yet another brilliant photographer. Yet another phenomenal video about him! Merci!

[@developingtank]

Thank you 🙏

[@TheUrbandilema]

Again sir thank you for your work and time taken I cherish these will written and educational media you present.. walker evans is really one of those greats and pioneers who did it for the love of the art .have a blessed day sir

[@developingtank]

Thanks man, the small yet loyal viewers I have so far are what keep me going. I’m loving spreading the knowledge about these greats week in, week out.

[@morrisgentry8624]

Thank you for this excellent review. I saw my first exhibit of Evans’ work in the mid-1970s and it had a profound effect on my view of photography. Evans, Adams and Sudek form the trinity for me ❤.

[@developingtank]

That is a strong trinity. Thanks for checking out the video!

[@georgemellen6922]

I enjoyed this so much I ordered American Photographs. Thanks for opening my eyes to this amazing artist who I had known about somewhat but forgotten. The incredible photographs you show in your video helped me recall his genius.

[@developingtank]

Love to see it! I’m happy you got so much out of this video.

[@RostykMakushak]

Did I tell you that YOU make some of the BEST VIDEOS on PHOTOGRAPHERS? You've covered all my favourite ones (and I would hope that more are coming :) Sometimes I think that I watched all possible videos and learned all possible information on a photographer. Then I watch your video and I get surprised by new knowledge that you bring to the subject. I.e. I had no idea that Stephen Shore was experimenting with 3D imagery. THANK YOU FOR AWESOME VIDEOS!

[@developingtank]

Thanks for this comment. It’s always good to wake up to something like this and I’m glad you’re getting new information from these videos. It’s really hard to find it since nearly every photographer has been covered on KZbin by someone already.

[@65WZ]

Thanks!

[@developingtank]

Wow, thank you! 🙏

[@65WZ]

@@developingtank Being from Saudi Arabia, with scarce local sources of photography information, the Developing Tank gave me a rich library of information & photographs of remarkable photographers.. Thank you.

[@developingtank]

I lived in Kuwait for a while, so I truly understand the limitations you’re talking about. Thank you 🙏

[@HaakonOdinsson]

Great upload, and I’m going to do some research on this chap…what a great photographer. Thank you very much

[@developingtank]

Happy to hear I could inspire you to dig deeper into his work. Thanks!

[@HaakonOdinsson]

@@developingtank like my loving to discover new music bands, I also love finding new photographers, especially ones who catch my eye with their work. I’ll do research and I’ll also buy some books of his work. Love it, thanks. Carry on with the great work 👍

[@developingtank]

We’re on the same page with discovering art. Thank you!

[@HaakonOdinsson]

@@developingtank my two passions, music and photography. Appreciate you taking the time to talk, very best wishes to you

[@HaakonOdinsson]

@@developingtank just ordered Walker Evans: Belinda Rathbone, a biography and American Photographs, for the bargain price of £7.99 for both. Been looking at his body of work, yeah, he’s one of my favourite photographers now. Thanks for the upload and the inspiration 👍

[@ernestthomas9406]

very informative and things I didn't know like documenting Cuba & working for the FSA

[@developingtank]

Glad you were able to get some new info out of this 🫡

[@lonecedarstudio]

I had the good fortune to know and work with folks who had worked with Walker when he was at Yale from 1965 to 1975, the year of his death. The book you present was edited by John Hill. He was also the executor of Walker's estate. Early in my photo career Evans work had an effect on how I understood the great journey and history of photography. After meeting John and Jerry Thompson, both friends of Walker, new and deeper insight were available to me. The books and exhibits of Walker's go a long way to securing a major place in our history. His work with James Agee and their book Let Us Now Praise Famous Men is not likely to be equaled. I believe Walker Evans was a documenter or the "American Folks Soul". Great work in your presentation.

[@developingtank]

That is an awesome experience you’ve had. Thank you 🙏

[@stuartschwartz5341]

I was an undergrad at Yale in 1972 and somehow talked my way into Walker’s graduate seminar. Jerry Thompson was the one who worked with us students, but Evans was always kind and encouraging, even though you could tell his health was failing. His stories about being on the road with Agee were priceless.

[@developingtank]

@stuartschwartz5341 I can’t even imagine how cool that was

[@-mike-8134]

Very good, Thx you!

[@developingtank]

Thank you!

[@phiswe]

I remember visiting a large Walker Evans retrospective at Pompidou in Paris some years ago. I was already aware of Walker Evans and his work, but I didn't know about the exhibition, and it was a complete surprise walking in there. To see all the images hanging on the wall, the hyperrealism and three-dimensionality of the large format contact prints were mesmerizing and can't be compared to seeing them in a book or on screen. The pioneer of modernism in photography is Atget (and it could be argued that Berenice Abbott, who rescued Atget's archive from obscurity, is the most influential American photographer). Still, Evans took Atget's sensibility and vision further and made it concrete.

[@developingtank]

Hell yeah. I would love to see an exhibition of his work. The only large exhibition I’ve seen of any of the greats was the work of Saul Leiter and it completely elevated my feelings about his photos which I already loved. The irl experience of these photos and the value it has cannot be understated.

[@johanp8391]

Well presented, thank you

[@developingtank]

Thank you 🫡

[@jamesheath9089]

As a lifelong admire for of Walker Evans I am surprised to see so many of his photographs I had never seen before. My only critique of this otherwise fine video is that each image should have been viewable for a longer period of time. Thank you.

[@developingtank]

👌

[@giriyoong]

Thank you. give us more.

[@developingtank]

Welcome. More coming soon.

[@craigcompoliphotography1235]

Excellent.

[@developingtank]

🙌

[@digitalArtform]

Colonel Klink’s father, Otto Klemperer, conducting at Carnegie Hall on that one subway poster

[@developingtank]

Unbelievable

[@bobnmarewilcox4855]

Thank you.

[@developingtank]

🫡🫡🫡

[@olivierbolton8683]

HE WAS THE BEST

[@developingtank]

LET’S GOOOO

[@ChrisBrogan]

What a great one. I say this every time. But what a huge shift in the experience of it all. Very great post. "Drinking with Hemingway" is quite a brag. ;) Just documenting what he saw. That's a real differentiator, in the best of ways. Really loved this one. In a world with endless cameras, we'll never see this kind of stuff in this way again. Not without a lot of intentionality. The part about ideals and bias is SO huge. Sure doesn't feel like people do that these days.

[@developingtank]

Completely agreed. I feel like randoms who see photos like this don’t understand how ahead of their time they were. The concept behind photos is just as important as the photos themselves in a lot of cases.

[@ChrisBrogan]

@@developingtank and something that doesn’t get talked about a lot. Love that you covered it.

[@developingtank]

It’s all Walker Evans continuing to influence the world of photography after death. Something we all wish to do.

[@bluenick4577]

Nice photos, did he have eye tracking af?

[@developingtank]

🤔

[@iaincphotography6051]

Interesting to see his Polaroid, shots. Looks like he was influenced by Haas! Mind you Haas was a photographer rather than a genre.

[@developingtank]

Considering he was taking photos decades earlier I think you’ve got it the other way around

[@iaincphotography6051]

@@developingtank not when he was doing colour with polaroid, Haas was shooting colour very early doors and with a true creative mind.

[@lightbox617]

I have modern tech that is greatly in advance of what Walker had but for social, legal and ethical considerations, I could not do this kind of work today. I am, at this moment, in Budapest, Hungary and photographing "candid's" of architecture and public sculpture. At least, I can make most of my prints B&W

[@developingtank]

Thanks for the comment

[@stevemcrae6614]

Thank you for sharing this inspiring collection of works and outlook! I guess the gloves aren’t being used to protect the book, I hope your hands are ok!

[@developingtank]

🧤

[@tomaszmichalski51]

@bryanbirks.

[@developingtank]

🫡