“cour 7 rue de Valencia“, 1922, Eugene Atget, courtesy of MOMA
Always interesting in how one thing leads to another. So how does this all start, eh?
Recently my work has been likened to the photographs of Walker Evans and a use of space like that of Eugene Atget. Which is very interesting, in as Atget is usually thought of as proceeding the way Walker Evans photographed. And now we understand that this direct way of photographing (seeing) was continued by Robert Frank and then Gary Winogrand, but perhaps not with the same way of using space.
I had a broad collection of books that may have had an image or two of Atget, but now I really wanted to have a dedicated resource to read and study to further understand his way of looking at something.
Thus I recently purchased a “used” copy of the 2001 MOMA book by John Szarkowski titled Atget. I say “used” because it was off the used sales page of AbeBooks, but essentially the book had never been opened or read in its entirety (a bit of book binding glue holding together the very top edge of the last eight pages, which would not be intact if someone had at least read the book once). So thank you for the referral to Abebooks by the nice folks at the Joesph Bellows Gallery and I can recommend AbeBooks for at least having a good first experience.
So I have walked through the photographs twice in this book and just completed my first read of Szarkowski. At first I had hoped for a little more analysis of the photograph from Szarkowski, but then realized that he was helping to frame the context of the photograph as much as describing the photographs attributes.
I sense that after I go through my Walker Evans book, that I will be coming back to this one again. And I will not be writing notes in the margins this time either ;- )
Best regards, Doug
Awesome picture. It’s cool that people have likened your work to others. You must be making it with your photography.
Comment by Matt George — September 10, 2008 @ 8:27 pm
In my book, being compared to Atget and Evans is the highest compliment!
Comment by Glen — September 12, 2008 @ 5:46 pm
Thank you, I was really taken back by the reference (in a very positive way). Althought both Atget and Evans photographs have alwasy emotionally resonnated within me, I found myself wanting to dig deeper as to why.
One of my fears is that I might understand it too well, such that it becomes a formula, which is a form of certain creative death. But to understand it enought to try to build on and experiement with it, has the potential for creative growth and personal discovery.
Comment by Doug Stockdale — September 12, 2008 @ 6:48 pm