505
tried again c. 1900, this time framing a more unifi ed
sweep upward and through the light-fi lled passageway.
Finally, he achieved the noted “A Sea of Steps,” 1903,
that takes a lower viewpoint and emphasizes the rhythms
of the foreshortened stone steps while stabilizing the
image with the engaged columns terminating with the
light-bathed Tudor arch.
In 1898, Evans retired from his bookstore. His stature
as an internationally renowned photographer was recog-
nized with his election to the Linked Ring Brotherhood
with whom he exhibited and designed innovative exhibi-
tions. He was the fi rst British photographer published
in Camera Work, in 1904, and Stieglitz proclaimed him
the leading architectural photographer. In this period he
accepted commissions from Country Life magazine for
landscape and architectural photography in France. He
published some 100 articles on technical and aesthetic
issues, many for the Amateur Photographer.
By the start of World War I, Evans’s health had wors-
ened, and it was diffi cult to obtain platinotype paper,
and so, he retired from photography. In 1928, he was
elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Photographic
Society. Following his death in 1943, the Society held
an Evans symposium and published memorial articles
which launched a renewed interest in this photographer
whose images and writing helped establish pure pho-
tography as art.
John FullerBiography
Frederick Henry Evans was born 26 June 1853. He
worked in a London counting house, but poor health ledhim to bookselling, where his self-acquired knowledge
attracted noted writers including George Bernard Shaw,
a strong advocate for photography as art. Evans began
photography in 1883, at fi rst photomicrography and then
architectural, landscape and portrait work.
Lacking traditional art skills, he practiced pure or
straight photography, and published over 100 articles
mostly on photography. He retired from bookselling
in 1898, and moved with his family to near Epping for
health and photography. His photographs won inter-
national acclaim, and in 1900, he was elected to the
Linked Ring Brotherhood. Evans’s exhibit design and
multiple mounting techniques showed relationships to
the arts and crafts movement. He was recognized as the
greatest architectural photographer. By World War I, he
essentially retired from photography, and in 1928, he
was elected a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society
of Great Britain. He died in London 24 June 1943, two
days before his 90th year.Selected Individual Exhibitions
1899 Architectural Club, Boston
1900 Royal Photographic Society, London
1904 Camera Club, London
1913 Amateur Photographer “Little Gallery,” Lon-
don
1917 Hampshire House, London
1919 Westminster Abbey photographs at Royal
Photographic Society, London
1922 Royal Photographic Society, London
1932 Photographic Society, London
1933 Manchester Amateur Photographic SocietyEVANS, FREDERICK HENRY
Evans, Frederick. In the Attics. The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase,
David Hunter McAlpin Fund,
1968 [68.519 (26)] Image © The
Metropolitan Museum of Art.Hannavy_RT72353_C005.indd 505 7/5/2007 11:18:32 AM