Walker Evans was an American photographer who lived from 1903 to 1975. Evans is best known for documenting the effects of the Great Depression through his pictures. He was known to use a large-format, 8×10-inch camera. Most of his work was shot in black and white.
Evans is credited as the originator of documentary photography, being one of the first to record American history through the lens of a camera. Evans focused on the common man, and in his common surroundings. His work captured people at their most vulnerable moments on the streets, cafes, and homes of America during the Great Depression. These images are now deeply rooted in our minds, and have shaped our perspective of living in America during that time.
Evans style worked because it focuses on the reality of the moment, as opposed to just trying to depict beauty in things, as was popular at the time with the European modernism style. I feel that this was an extremely important step in photography, because it gave the photographer the power to influence how future generations could view past generations through their work.
The honesty of Evans pictures, given the circumstances, is what most stands out to me as a photography student. Nothing seems staged or fixed, instead the reality of the dire moments are perfectly capture in his pictures.
Evans simple portraits are most impactful. The way the contrasting tones of black and white reflect off his subjects face imply a time long ago, but that cannot be forgotten. The spirit of the person is what I feel jumps off the picture. In these moments I feel Evans has captured that specific moment in time, when these people were both afraid yet nevertheless resolved to succeed.
Walker Evans pictures resonate with us today because we see a fragment of ourselves in them. We can relate to the people and the places, not only because it’s our history, but also because it’s the history of the human spirit captured in a picture.
