Baldwin Lee’s Presentation---
Upon walking to the Foster Art Gallery to attend the lecture presented by Walker Evans' assistant, I never would have thought that someone could know so many crucial and tiny details about every single photograph that was taken, especially since they were all taken some time ago...while also sharing a very special friendship with him. I honestly expected that Baldwin Lee would be a very quiet man with a thick accent, only to learn that he was very outgoing, clear, and an excellent speaker. I found it very interesting when he spoke about how Walker Evans’ was not trying to document the great depression, but rather share his ideas with the rest of the world. All of the photographs that Baldwin Lee specifically talked about also had a lot to do with Evans’ point that “looking is harder than it look”, and that each picture had a hidden meaning or detail behind it that might have been unseen to the naked eye. The photograph I found most interesting was the one of the kitchen (I can’t remember the name of it), and how if you look at it, it only looks like a battered, worn down kitchen, and probably belongs to someone who wasn’t very fortunate to afford nice things. But then he zooms in and shows that there weren’t as many forks present as there were spoons…and then elaborated on the story of how many of them were probably lost due to the fact that the piece they were jammed into was continuously moved up in order to avoid tiny fingers (which is why they were probably lost). I also found it fascinating that some of the pictures were actually very difficult to take as far as the various camera angles and lighting strategies Walker used in order to make his photographs appear perfect. Also, the reasons for why he found a setting interesting seemed strange to me, but after seeing the final result, I saw why he wanted to document something that was so simple, but also so abstract from any other photographs from this time. Like how he wanted to have a stump very evident in a few of his photographs, or how the font of letters compelled him to take a picture. My favorite reason for why he took a photograph though was that Evans' found it funny that during this Great Depression, one of the more well off (Bowls) people of this time had a wrinkly suit. Even though he could afford to do other things, he couldn't at least iron what he was wearing.
Overall, I thought that listening to Baldwin Lee speak about Walker Evans' journey was very fascinating and beneficial but also very interesting. It is crazy that he knew so many facts and details about every picture, and how they were all taken, and for what reason. He clearly had a bond with Walker Evans’, and wanted to continue that friendship with him today to share his life and experiences with college students like myself.
--Source: Baldwin Lee. "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men: Photos by Walker Evans". Artist Lecture. UWEC Foster Art Gallery, 12 November 2010.
--Foster Art Gallery Exhibit
Although we had seen a few of Walker Evan’s photographs during lecture in class, it was fascinating to see an entire gallery of so many pictures he had taken. It was clearly evident that there was a theme going on in the gallery which was the results of the Great Depression in the 1930s and 1940s. Although these photos might seem like they would serve as a way to document these results, they were really Walker Evans’ own ideas about what the Great Depression was. Compared to modern contemporary photographers, I feel like Evans’ really displays what is actually there, instead of constructing a photograph that tells an imaginary and fictional story. When I visited the exhibit on one of my breaks from class, I was shocked to see how raw and real every single picture was. The eyes in every single picture felt like they were following my footsteps because the stares were all very intense, yet very sad. A photograph that impacted me was one of a small toddler hanging off the side of a bed, in-between either the head board or foot board, grasping on to the top rail. I couldn’t tell if this child was a boy or a girl simply because they are dressed in tattered and dirty clothes with messy hair, and no modern day identification of what would be flowers and butterflies or trucks and footballs to help me determine who this child was. What really got me in this photograph was like I mentioned earlier, the stare in his eyes…he looks very alone and seems like he is struggling to live any kind of a normal life. The way his eyes looked was also evident in many of the other portraits in this exhibit. Compared to the times today, I feel like the photographs may be specific to only those who are actually struggling to survive the economy, but not everyone is struggling like they were back in the 1930s. All of his pictures were very interesting and made me wonder how all of these people were doing, and what specific struggles they each had in their everyday lives. But they also made me wonder how I would do in a time like this. I honestly don’t think I would have been able to live any kind of a normal life, just like every person and setting in these photographs. They all made me feel very fortunate to live in a home where I can live securely and comfortably.
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