New York City Block, 1938 by Walker Evans





"Leaving aside the mysteries and the inequities of human talent, brains, taste, and reputations, the matter of art in photography may come down to this: it is the capture and projection of the delights of seeing; it is the defining of observation full and felt."
-- Walker Evans



There is no text provided along with these pictures, but an analyze of the film indicates that Evans shot four rolls of film and selected some that he sent back to Stryker. Evans probably didn't know much about the social and economic conditions of the block but that should not have bothered him: "The act of photographing, is all done instinctively, as far as I can see, not consciously"











For more about this picture read "notes about a street photo"















Please have a look at this text about the pictures to learn more and to get all the captions.
Have a look at the essay by Tod Papageorge: "Walker Evans and Robert Frank: An Essay on Influence. PDF is on this site
More to read about Walker Evans from the Metropolitan Museum of Art




Comments

mrurbano said…
There was a comment in some facebook-group about these pictures questioning why I present them, since they "completely lack commitment" I was adviced to show some of Walker Evan's major and more important work instead. Well, perhaps it is a point as good as any, but I find these pictures from the New York City Block interesting - they were taken within a few hours and Evans was assigned by Stryker. Why? We know that Evans was out of money at the time. Furthermore we don't know if Stryker or Evans were satisfied with the result and as far as I know ( and I know very little) there is no Important Art Critic who has praised the series. What I Do know - is that Walker Evans was one of the greatest photographers of the 20th century and there are plenty of links along with this posting with pictures from a New York City Block - in case you want to learn more about him and his work
temporal rooms said…
On assignment or on his own Walker Evans will be one of America's most gifted photographers. Damn the critics. These are wonderful images illustrating a time and place people like myself will see as important and beautiful.

Thank you Ulf for showing us photographs i night never have seen.

~robert
mrurbano said…
Thank you Robert