Frederick H Evans: Spirituality of Stone

Frederick H Evans: Spirituality of Stone

“One could say that Frederick H. Evans was born at the right moment for photography: his arrival coincided with the founding of the Photographic Society” (Lyden 1). He started his life out working as a bookkeeper and eventually came to own his own bookstore. In the 1880s Evans purchased his first camera which was a “quarter-plate camera from George Smith of the Sciopticon Company” (1). With his camera he began taking images of tiny organic specimens which was not what a typical beginner would do but he was anything but typical. When it comes to the natural world he didn’t just take images of tiny specimens but he also traveled outside and photographed landscapes. He didn’t limit himself to one genre but tried to absorb all sorts. He even did portraits of his friends whom would come into his bookstore and most of these portraits would have a black background so the focus would be just the person. 

Eventually he retired from his bookstore so he could concentrate on just photography. One of his good friends and teacher was George Smith who believed in pure photography saying “I am of the opinion that to dodge a negative in any way whatever is not art, but a miserable confession of inability to treat photography as a true art” (Newhall 10). This view was instilled into Evans and his work. Evans wrote many articles on his own work and photography in general. “He was a regular contributor to popular British journals such as Amateur Photographer and Photographer, and he held the distinction of being the first English photographer invited to contribute to Camera Work, the American quarterly journal edited and published by Alfred Stieglitz”(5-7). He traveled often even going to New York to show his work but the reception was less positive and this frustrated Evans. He thought that the critics completely missed the poetry of his work saying his perfectionism was a “sterile, negative quality”.

Critics would have more appreciation if they knew how much work Evans put into every shot. With his cathedral series if something entered his field of view that “dated” the image, Evans capped the lens, waited for the unwanted object to leave, then uncapped the lens and continued the exposure, “purging evidence of the contemporary world, leaving only the beautiful and the eternal”(Hirsch 155-156). Most photographs of this time of cathedrals didn’t give the feeling of emotion or the spirit of the medieval architecture. Evans in his classes would always say, “Try for a record of emotion rather than a piece of the topography” (Newhall 11). Trying to present a message like this could not be taken lightly which is why he worked so hard for each photograph. “Evans would spend weeks living in the chosen cathedral and everyday he would study the light, carefully writing down in his notebook the hour when it best revealed each portion of the church”(12). It was said that if he failed he would lay the negative on the floor and step on it with his heel, starting over again. Evan's greatest contribution to the history of photography was his interpretation of the majestic medieval cathedrals of England and France. Throughout his images you can see his love of the cathedrals and his intense understanding of the motivation for the architects and priests who built them.

            The first work that will be discussed is Gloucester Cathedral. Cloisters, Interior of Lavatorium 1890, 4.3 x 6.1" Platinum Print. In this photograph perspective and sunlight are very important and Evans uses both of them well. The eye of the viewer is drawn to the end of the hallway, the stain glass windows act as a focal point. Above he is able to capture the ornate ceiling which also leads the viewer to the stain glass window. Why is this stain glass window so important? The answer is the light, those stain glass windows act as a doorway to something more and Evans helps the viewer to see that, he is the guide for a visual pilgrimage. The next image also of Gloucester is Gloucester Cathedral. Inforum to East 1890, 4.3 x 5.8" Platinum Print. This one is important because of Evan’s use of different values which gives the effect of an almost glowing white. On the right side he is able to capture the flowing quality of the stone walls leading the eye to the left. The light also from the right side leads the eye and illuminates a pathway to the door on the left. The fact that the pathway leads to the door is very significant in that the light is present and drawn into the cathedral. This leads the viewer to wonder what is behind that door perhaps a new spiritual beginning.

            Lincoln Cathedral, from the castle, 1898 is a little different because it is an exterior view of the whole Cathedral but very significant. Evan’s use of lighting once again makes the Cathedral appear to have a magnificent glow compared to the darkened brick house below in the foreground. The Cathedral also appears to have more life due to its extremely ornate surface compared to the flat brick of the houses. The cathedral appears almost dreamlike with the smoke from the chimney tops diminishing the view, it is a lot less earthbound then the clearer houses. This image can be compared to a certain bible passage from Romans 1:19-20, “What can be known about God is plain, for God has shown it….Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature….has been perceived in the things that have been made”. Through this cathedral the viewer is able to see God as God looks over us all so does this Cathedral look over the town. When Evans goes into the interior of the Lincoln Cathedral with Lincoln Cathedral: Nave, to East one can’t help but think of the same message. In this image all of the stone seems to be lit up except the altar towards the front because the light is coming from behind. Truthfully the light would not be able to light up this whole area but the way Evans uses this angle it appears that the light is. The viewer’s eye is drawn towards the light emphasized by the ornate ceiling. Evans is able to portray the overwhelming size of this room by the angle of the arches and pillars making the light seem even more miraculous.

            When God comes to mind one can’t help but think of hope which is portrayed in Evan’s next piece In Sure and Certain Hope, York Minster, 1902. Just looking at it the viewer sees a crypt with a figure on it staring upward towards the light with hands folded. The illumination adds many meanings to the building itself along with the shadows in the corner. “The work acquires a solemnity and suggestiveness that could not have been attained by dwelling on detail” (Hammond 135). Once again the light focuses on the doorway but also the crypt seemingly to suggest that the spirit is going on a different journey or “doorway” to the afterlife. The detail and focus on the individual lines of the stain glass is phenomenal. Evans addressed this work in Camera Work, No. 4 saying, “This subject fascinated but troubled me. I at once saw the making of a picture in it; the great somber door that might open and lead-anywhere; the fortunately placed recumbent figure with the pathos of uplifted folded hands; the lofty window above; all these were fine and right; but to make the whole cohere, speak, escaped me. But one day I saw what it must mean-to me at least. As I was studying it the sun burst across it, flooding it with radiance. There is my picture: ‘Hope’ waiting, expectancy with the certitude of answer; and the title seemed defensible, if a little ambitious” (Newhall 92). Evans saw light as hope and it appears everywhere within the Cathedrals and he captures this.

            Evans is even able to capture light in what people would think would be the darkest of places like a crypt. In Provins 1910 the viewer is in the basement of a Cathedral looking towards some stairs. Light coming from a unseen force travels down the stairs creating a floor of light seemingly piercing even the darkest corners. This is uplifting and has a sense of hope because in the dark there is always light that will lead you to safety. The stairs being illuminated makes the viewer curious and makes one desire to go up those stairs but like a spiritual journey it can be difficult, the stairs seem impossibly steep. This is a very medieval notion, to go from shadows to divine light. Wells Cathedral: A Sea of Steps 1903 also uses this notion of steps and here the steps are perceived as a barrier almost. The way Evans angled his camera the stairs are framed as a wall and there is a rail but Evans chose to exclude that to make the journey seem even more difficult. The stairs rise to the light of the chapter house in an almost wave motion, Evans describes this wave, “The beautiful curve of the steps on the right is for all the world like the surge of a great wave that will presently break and subside into smaller ones like those at the top of the picture. It is one of the most imaginative lines it has been my good fortune to try and depict, this superb mounting of steps” (Newhall 66). There is present a sort of tension in that the steps seem foreboding and difficult but at the top is salvation.

            Another crypt picture that was very powerful is Wells Cathedral: Crypt under Chapter House. This picture has an extreme dynamic between dark and light. The entryway to the left is pitch black and would seem scary but the fact that the door on the right is open for an escape puts the viewer at ease. The light also seems to point the way bending with the window on the far right wall. The different gray tones adds more to the story with the door in the middle of the pitch back room and the light room seeming to be something in between like the crossing point between light and dark once again emphasizing a journey. The lines also on the top of the ornate ceiling seem to guide the eye towards the open door.

            Later in his life Evans was asked to critique his own work and one of those images was York Minster. Into the South Transept 1903. His goal in this picture was to capture the radiance and glory of the sunshine streaming through. He describes how he was able to do this without drowning out the picture. “By carefully utilizing the shadow of the great column on the right, and making it cut off all of the window to the very edge of the glass, including enough of the great pier’s shadow to give solidity and interest to the otherwise empty foreground”(Hammond 48). By utilizing the column he was able to create an image that had light but was not drowned in it. He also was able to show the height of this room by including most of the arches. It conveys a sort of mystery in that the viewer is behind the dark pillar and wonders what is producing this magnificent light, by peaking around one may discover it.

            Evans in his work speaks about how he is always trying to portray mass and he really succeeded in his work Ely Cathedral. Across Nave and Octagon 1903. He was able to achieve this by removing the usual chairs and benches which in his words “hinder one’s enjoyment by hiding the bases of the piers, spoiling the floor effect, and dwarfing any attempt at suggestive height” (53). By removing these distractions the viewer can see the huge bulk of the piers and the radiance of the sunlight in between the spaces. The modern pulpit seen in the back left unfortunately could not be removed but one still gets the sense of the medieval space, the love of the work and religion it symbolized. He tried to get this point across in another work of Ely Cathedral titled A Memory of the Normans the light in the archway seems very pure when compared with the darker stone surround it. It invites you into the space by creating a path of light and Evans describes this space as a “wonderfully lit beyond, or desired haven” (Hammond 52). 

            Evans was able to create a style all his own in that he was able to make people see what was once not seen in architecture. He succeeds in providing an “experience of the building that goes beyond the recording of the physical structure and even the artistic properties of the actual point to become an emotional response in and of itself” (Lyden 11). What is really phenomenal about Evans is how he portrays the relationship between light and dark, generally when people are exposed to this they think of good and evil. Evan’s shadows in his pictures though never have an evil quality to them which in part is because of the platinum used in the print which softens dark areas. With the shadows you can always peer into them they are never pitch black because there is always light present. With light Evans is able to transform any space causing the cold walls of stone to shine and the first epistle of John says. “God is light”. Evans was not exactly a “Christian soldier” he was excited by what he experienced in these cathedrals and he wanted to share this experience. In a way he is similar to Ansel Adams who wanted to share Yosemite with everyone. Evan’s message is a reminder that beauty and mystery are real and it’s great to pursue and be excited about these things.

Work Cited Page

Hammond, Anne. 1992. Frederick H. Evans: Selected Texts and Bibliography. Oxford:             Clio Press Ltd.

Hirsch, Robert. 2009. Seizing the Light: A Social History of Photography. New York:             McGraw-Hill.

Lyden, Ann. 2010. The Photographs of Frederick H. Evans. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty             Museum

Newhall, Beaumont. 1973. Frederick H. Evans: Photographer of the Majesty, Light, and             Space of the Medieval Cathedrals of England and France. New York: Aperture             Inc.