Unclassified - A Walker Evans Anthology: Se

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Summary: Unclassified An Essential Miscellany of Evans Material
Review: I was puzzled by this book when I first saw it: it seemed a strange miscellany of archival trivia with little of the unearthed treasure I had hoped to see direct from the official Evans archive. But upon reflection I can see the method to Jeff Rosenheim & Company's "madness." This is less a book to read for enjoyment - although I have found it very enjoyable - than an anthology of materials (writings, letters, photographs, collections) essential to a thorough understanding of Walker Evans, either as a photographer or as a person. It is the background material from which his life was constructed, and I cannot imagine any serious student of Evans neglecting to own it.

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Summary: Nice addition to a photographer's library.
Review: This anthology, traces the development of an American master, opening a window to his creative process and inner life.

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Summary: Unlocking the Enigma
Review: What did I learn from this wonderful tome? Well, for one, it really fleshes out the seeming walking contradiction that was Walker Evans: A Bohemian who really *was* poor; A man so honestly in love with the French literature of his day that he went beyond the affectations of a dilletante and made some awkward attempts at his own stories, but also came up with some excellent translations; A progressive of the left who nonetheless had no use for New Deal phoney hacks; A man of letters, culture and taste who also had a great command over four letter words in his letters to Hans Skolle and James Agee (I love the "hatred for" lists compiled by the latter two -- totally politically incorrect).

Walker Evans was a brilliant photographer, therefore was a bitter man, because he observed life so keenly; the warts took on an almost surreal dimension. Nonetheless, he could always see beyond the muck and mire, and it is his bittersweet reflections on life that have the ring of honesty, integrity and a sort of sour, cynical truth, but never "truth with a capital 'T'."

I feel after reading this collection of elusive ephemera that I now truly can begin to understand what made Walker Evans tick.
I recommend reading this while imbibing rum and Cokes or a fine Bordeaux Rouge.