Walker Evans: Labor Anonymous

This short book comprises three essays (which appear side by side in German and English) about American photographer Walker Evans (1903%E2%80%931975), illustrated by the subject's photographs, most of which were taken for a 1946 Fortune article about laborers in the city of Detroit. Evans shot the assignment from a single downtown street corner, with boarded-up storefronts serving as the background of the resulting 150 portraits of unsuspecting people on the go. The book begins with an essay by photographer Jerry Thompson, a student of Walker's, who provides a detailed account of this work, including notes and memorabilia from the archives, as well as other facts about the photographer, who played a vital role in determining the course of photography in the 20th century. The second essay, by Heinz Liesbrock (Walker Evans: Depth of Field), focuses on Evans as an artist working to produce what Evans himself described as "a visual study of American civilization." The final essay, by photographer and curator David Campany (Walker Evans: The Magazine Work), discusses photographers who influenced Evan's work and those he later influenced. The photos themselves pale in comparison to Walker's other work; the real interest lies in the artistic moment in which they were created, which all three essays thoughtfully convey. Illus. (Apr.)