Walker Evans

Walker Evans was a highly influential American photographer and photojournalist. He is most famous for documenting the American experience during the Great Depression. Evans sought to create images that were literate, authoritative, and transcendent. This means he wanted his photos to be intelligent and carry a deep, lasting meaning. His work captured the reality of everyday life during a period of intense economic struggle. Today, his photographs are considered essential records of 20th-century American history.

To achieve his specific visual style, Evans often utilized a large-format view camera. This device used 8 × 10-inch film, which is much larger than standard modern film. Using such a large format allowed for immense detail and clarity in his compositions. Evans did not typically spend much time in a darkroom processing his own negatives. Instead, he practiced a method of loose supervision over the printing process. He would often attach handwritten notes directly to his negatives. These notes provided specific instructions to the technicians making the final prints.

Evans' career included many different types of photographic assignments and styles. In the early 1930s, he focused on series like Victorian houses in Boston. He also traveled to Cuba in 1933 to document street life and political tension. During the mid-1930s, he moved into the realm of documentary photography for government agencies. He worked for the Resettlement Administration and the Farm Security Administration (FSA). These agencies were part of the New Deal, a series of government programs. His work during this time focused on the lives of unemployed miners and sharecroppers.

Evans' early life was marked by a background of affluence and diverse education. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1903. He spent his youth in cities like Chicago, Toledo, and New York City. He attended various academies and briefly studied French literature at Williams College. After leaving college, he worked as a night attendant in a library map room. He officially began his photography journey around 1928 while living in Ossining, New York. His early style was influenced by photographers such as Eugène Atget and August Sander.

One of the most significant periods of his career occurred in Alabama in 1936. While working for the National Recovery Administration, he photographed three sharecropper families. These families, led by Bud Fields, Floyd Burroughs, and Frank Tingle, lived in Hale County. Evans collaborated with writer James Agee on this project. Their work resulted in the 1941 book, *Let Us Now Praise Famous Men*. This book provided a detailed and moving portrait of rural poverty. The photographs of these families became iconic symbols of the era's hardships.

Beyond his famous documentary work, Evans was a versatile professional. He was a staff writer for *Time* magazine in 1945. He later served as an editor for *Fortune* until 1965. He also shared his knowledge as a professor at the Yale University School of Art. In his later years, he adapted to new technology by using the Polaroid SX-70. This instant camera was valued for its simplicity and speed. Even in his final years, he continued to produce photographic portfolios for various institutions.

Walker Evans' legacy is preserved in many of the world's most important museums. His work is held in permanent collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum. The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) held the first exhibition ever devoted to a single photographer in 1938 to showcase his work. Many of his images, such as those produced for the FSA, are now in the public domain. His photographs continue to be studied for their "lyric documentary" style. They serve as a vital connection to the social and economic history of the United States.