Webb turns the spotlight on two photographers--Charles Sheeler and Walker Evans--whose early studio work of African sculpture is known, but has never itself been examined as art. The setting here is New York City and the early gallery exhibitions featuring African sculpture. Several other key individuals appear in Webb's account apart from the principal characters--Marius de Zayas (for whom Sheeler worked), James Johnson Sweeney, and Alfred H. Barr. She focuses in particular on Evans' approaches and photographic techniques.
