Walker Evans question...

[Carterofmars]

Did Walker Evans use a Leica or a Contax in the subway? Also, did you know if he used a large format earlier in his career?

 

[furcafe]

IIRC, Zeiss Ikon Contax in the NY subway, mostly large format for everything else.

Did Walker Evans use a Leica or a Contax in the subway? Also, did you know if he used a large format earlier in his career?

 

[kdemas]

I believe Walker Evans used a small camera, maybe a Leica, and shot through a button hole in his coat. I saw these images last year, very cool.

http://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/walker-evans-subway-portraits-1938-41

 

[furcafe]

Per this thread on Lightstalkers:

http://www.lightstalkers.org/posts/walker_evans_contax

seems he used everything, but did use a Contax w/5cm/2 Sonnar for "Many Are Called" (maybe also a Barnack w/a Kodak Ektra right-angle finder).

 

[telenous]

Contax for the subway series (1938-1941). The FSA project work and American Photographs (1938) were shot with an 8x10 and predate the subway photographs. There's an interview where he said he first photographed seriously right after he returned to NY from Paris in the late 20's. His first publication were three photos for Hart Crane's The Bridge (1930) (See frontispiece in this link: http://www.baumanrarebooks.com/rare-books/crane-hart-evans-walker/bridge/85962.aspx and the other two photos here: http://thispublicaddress.com/tPA1/2002/05/to-brooklyn-bridge.html). Not sure about the camera used, they do look LF though.

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[Carterofmars]

Was it he who rigged a release cable to the camera in his coat so he could stealthily snap his pictures of the unsuspecting travelers?

 

[Franz Elmar]

I don't think he used 8x10 for his earlier work, more often it was 5x7, the more portable field format.

I saw a photo of his working camera case from when he was Fortune's photographer. Six cameras, two of each, Rolleiflex, RolleiWide, TeleRollei... all in a nice Halliburton.

 

[emayoh]

Argh, I've had it all wrong. No wonder my results have been off. I wanted to inhabit his method, so I've been trying to hide an 8x10 in my coat.

:bang:

 

[magicianhisoka]

Was it he who rigged a release cable to the camera in his coat so he could stealthily snap his pictures of the unsuspecting travelers?

I vaguely remember reading that Stanley Kubrik did that in his early photographic experiments

http://www.apug.org/forums/archive/index.php/t-100248.html

 

[Vics]

I always liked his LF and Rollei pictures best. I know that Roman Vishniac photographed the Warsaw Ghetto the way you suggest, with a hidden camera. I never really liked Evans' subway pictures. Looked like corpses to me.

 

[gns]

He used a variety of cameras in his career, finally settling on a Polaroid SX-70.

 

[telenous]

Argh, I've had it all wrong. No wonder my results have been off. I wanted to inhabit his method, so I've been trying to hide an 8x10 in my coat.

:bang:

Exactly the situation that calls for a roomy kaftan à la Demis Roussos 😀 (Silver platforms optional.)

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[telenous]

The following two links confirm the use of 8x10, at least insofar as the FSA commissioned photos and the American Photographs were concerned.

http://walkerevans.florencegriswoldmuseum.org/gallery/gallery.php5?id=2

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug97/FSA/chrono.html

True though, he held no allegiance to particular format and camera, using pretty much what suited a particular goal. If anything, in interviews he came across as someone who disdained equipment.

.

 

[furcafe]

He may not have liked to talk about gear, but he sure had good taste. 😉

True though, he held no allegiance to particular format and camera, using pretty much what suited a particular goal. If anything, in interviews he came across as someone who disdained equipment.

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