Walker Evans Exhibit at The Fenimore Museum
The Fenimore Museum in Cooperstown, NY is currently exhibiting the work of Depression Era photographer Walker Evans. An exhibit of Evans’s work would be reason enough to see this show, but there’s more. John T. Hill and Sven Martson ( who both were connected to Evans ) have scanned and reprinted ink jet interpretations of Evans’s most famous works.
This is an opportunity for some excellent discussion. The museum has some original 8×10 contact prints on display in the gallery with the ink jets, so it is easy to see and compare the separate presentations ( interpretations ) of the images. It is an amazing display of images and technology. There is also a small display of the type equipment that walker Evans used throughout his career.
The show is runs through December 31. The Fenimore Museum is open 10 to 5 daily through Columbus Day. It is across from the Farmer’s Museum. No photography is allowed in galleries. $ 11.00 admission. More info: fenimoreartmuseum.org
Here’s what Walker Evans said about the photographic process during an interview in 1971:
” It’s as though there’s a wonderful secret in a certain place, and I can capture it.
Only I can do it at this moment and only me.”
You have the same opportunity.
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:27 pm
I’m inspired…….saw the exhibit sunday before last by mistake–i’d motorcycled down to see the Harvest Festival at the Farmer’s Museum (i actually took a pic or 2 there that i liked, and yes, i itake my cam everywhere) and decided to stop across the street afterward. Yes, i, too, am conflicted about the idea of digital scans and inkjet printing his works, but overall, i just like looking at it all, especially the larger prints they had–for the detail. hadn’t realized that there were original prints there, too. (how did the two compare, do you think?) and i liked the old camera display…………
Steve D.
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:37 pm
I enjoyed the quality and size of the larger prints. The detail is incredible and the tonal range demonstrates how far black and white digital imaging has advanced. The 8×10 contact prints were equally impressive as all well executed 8×10 contact prints should be. Both presentations successfully presented Evans’s work.
The portraits are beautiful, and regardless of how they were printed show the interaction and connection between the photographer and his subject. As I’ve said many times, especially to David DeSantis and Mother Elisabeth, if a portrait is to be successful, the subject has to give the image of himself/herself to the photographer.
Evans connected with these people and the connection can be felt through the images he produced.
September 22nd, 2009 at 5:12 pm
The Walker Evans show is incredible. The digital reproductions of his images add scale, detail and range that he surely would have appreciated. Being able to compare his silver contact prints with the modern carbon digital prints is like a lab project, and the narratives that accompany the images are an education on Evans and on the evolution of photo processing. My favorite image was the horizontal from Selma that was stitched together from two of his digitized photographs. The car repair is another classic, as are his iconic images of sharecroppers and tenant farmers. The family photo, with the skinny black cat sleeping under the bed, and grandma’s boots tied with pieces of rag, will stay with me for a long time. Anyone working in a variety of formats today can relate to the range of cameras that he used, from the 8 x 10 and Speed Graphic down to a Leica and a pocket camera. The pocket Polaroid on which he is said to have taken 3000+ images in the ’70s might have been the digital equivalent of his day.
Thanks for the tip on this great show.