Depth of Field

Walker Evans, whose work both defined and transcended the genre of documentary photography, is arguably the most§influential American photographer of the twentieth century. This first European retrospective of his art will open at the Josef Albers Museum in Bottrop, Germany, in September 2015 and will subsequently travel to the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and to the Vancouver Art Gallery.§The accompanying book, Depth of Field, aims to show in detail§the arc of Evans's career. It traces the complex development of his oeuvre from the brilliance of his early street photography to his iconic photographs of the Great Depression to his late embrace of color and especially color Polaroid, a medium intended for amateurs. The book also features lesser-known series, including his photographs of Victorian and antebellum architecture, Cuba, and Florida's Gulf Coast, and his Fortune magazine portfolios. Lastly, it sheds light on Evans's appropriation of vernacular signs and ephemera as an§extension of his vision with a camera.§In image and text, this comprehensive book reveals Evans's§denial of photography's boundaries to reach past his time and place, becoming a seminal figure in the arts.