WITH A POLAROID BY WALKER EVANS BOBBI CARREY (1946- ) My Summer With Walker, 48 portraits of Walker Evans as well as interior views and studies of his house in Old Lyme, Connecticut. This is one of only three existing sets. Chromogenic prints from SX-70 Polaroids, the images measuring 3 1/8 inches (7.9 cm.) square, the sheets 4 1/4x3 1/2 inches (10.8x8.9 cm.), one with Carrey's signature and title, and the rest with her sequential numbers, in ink, on verso; enclosed in a custom black clamshell box with the printed title and introductory pages. Summer 1974
This set is accompanied by a Polaroid portrait of Carrey by Walker Evans. Polaroid, the image measuring3 1/8 inches (7.9 cm.) square, the sheet 4 1/4x3 1/2 inches (10.7x8.8 cm.). 1974
The set offered here is one of three existing examples, one of which is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The last set (the original Polaroids) remains in the collection of the artist. Walker Evans' portrait of Carrey is also in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum.
In the summer of 1974, Evans was working to finish a book on Main Street, USA as seen through vintage postcards. Carrey, a photographer herself, had become known as someone who could wrangle artists and get results. Carrey's introductory text and the photographs document their time together, including trips to the beach, meals, everyday details of Evans' home and life (including his bills, matches, clothing, and more), and their encounters as they lived and worked side by side.
The images are an intimate portrait of one of the most influential photographers of the century and are delightful and revealing in their detail. Their articulate, descriptive qualities nod to Evans' own elegant and direct style, and the portraits of the photographer offer a rare glimpse of the charismatic and elusive man himself.
