Walker Evans Research Paper

Walker Evans (1903-1975) was one of the most influential photographers of the twentieth century. He is best known for photography during the Great Depression period. Evans worked for the Farm Security Administration documenting the hardships and poverty of the era (Department of Photographs). His photography style differed from the past highly artistic style of photography; he attempted to capture the essence of ordinary life as it was. Evans is considered to be one of the first documentarians of the Modern Era.

Walker Evans began taking photographs in 1928. Most of his initial work exhibits the influence of European formalism and emphasis on dynamic graphic structures (Department of Photographs). Evans eventually rejected this customary,

Evans, however, worked with little concern for the ideological agenda or the suggested itineraries and instead documented the essence of American life from the simple and the ordinary. His photographs consist of everyday images, such as roadside architecture, rural churches, small-town barbers, and cemeteries. Evans was interested in anonymous street photography. He recognized the camera’s ability to display the very values of a society in the people's conscious and unconscious expressions, in their displays, in their demeanor, and in their furnishings and entertainments (Department of Photographs). Although Walker Evans was the most outspoken of the FSA photographers in his renunciation of any arrangements prior to exposure, he needed cooperation of his subjects, who agreed to remain motionless while he made the exposure (Curtis, 10-11). Despite this, Evans photographs appear candid, unposed. Most famous documentary photographs have resulted from a photographer’s ability to capture a captivating scene, whether by arranging subject matter or experimenting with alternate compositions. Even though