In this project, I select Walker Evans as the artist, and I would like to explore his accomplishments in the Farm Security Administration photography program to show how his photographic works unveiled the realistic issue the US during the Great Depression.
Walker Evans was born in 1903 and died in 1975. Initially, Walker studied French literature, while he soon dropped out the college and then took up photography in 1928, when he was 25 years old. In early 1930s, Walker visited Cuba and completed his famous photographic series on Cuban society. In that period, Walker also made friends with Ernest Hemingway.
In 1935, Walker joined in the US the Farm Security Administration photography program, and he spent nearly two years in the Southern United States to take photos of peasants, people from the working class and their poor life during the Great Depression. Walker’s FSA photographic works soon grabbed the US and the world’s attention. From Walker’s works, audiences can clearly feel how the peasants and the working class suffered from poverty and misery at that time. Also, his works can be a realistic and reliable record of US history.
The characteristics of Walker’s FSA photographic works include firstly, Walkers would like to use large-format 8×10-inch view camera, and such unique technique makes his photos more clearly to present the details of human figures. Secondly, Walker’s works exhibited equal emphasis on both the environment and human figures, and audiences can find a harmonious and interesting association between and environment and human beings. Thirdly, Walker’s works presented realistic scenes. As he describes his own art style as, “my goal as a photographer is to make pictures literate, authoritative and transcendent.”
Evans-Walker.-Allie-Mae-Burroughs-1936-West-Virginia
Evans-Walker.-Fish-Shop-1936-Birmingham-Alabama
Evans-Walker.-A-Graveyard-and-Steel-Mill-in-Bethlehem-1935-Pennsylvania
Evans-Walker.-A-Graveyard-and-Steel-Mill-in-Bethlehem-1935-Pennsylvania
Evans-Walker.-A-Graveyard-and-Steel-Mill-in-Bethlehem-1935-Pennsylvania
Evans-Walker.-Louisiana-Plantation-House-1935-West-Virginia
Evans-Walker.-Main-Street-of-a-Pennsylvania-Town-1935-Pennsylvania
Evans-Walker.-Gravestone-Louisiana-1935-Louisiana
Evans-Walker.-Main-Street-Faces-1935-Louisiana
Evans-Walker.-New-Orleans-Vicinity-1935-New-Orleans
Evans-Walker.-Coal-Miners-House-Scotts-Run-1936-West-Virginia
Evans-Walker.-Sharecropper-1936-Alabama
Evans-Walker.-Elizabeth-and-Dora-Mae-Tengle-1936-Alabama
Evans-Walker.-Lucille-Burroughs-1936-Alabama
Evans-Walker.-Two-Members-of-a-Prison-Work-Gang-1936-Louisiana
Reference:
Walker Evans: Literate, Authoritative, Transcendent. https://johnschronicle.org/2018/12/17/walker-evans-literate-authoratative-transcendent/.
Presentation:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Uy4GePItP3n5GamydyCScAivFbjuVLgE/view?usp=sharing
P2
Hi, everyone. In this presentation, I select Walker Evans as the artist, and I would like to explore his accomplishments in the Farm Security Administration photography program to show how his photographic works unveiled the realistic issue the US during the Great Depression.
P3
Before closely reviewing his works, let’s start with a brief biography of this American photographer. Walker Evans was born in in 1903 and died in 1975. Initially, Walker studied French literature, while he soon dropped out the college and then took up photography in 1928, when he was 25 years old. In early 1930s, Walker visited Cuba and completed his famous photographic series on Cuban society. In that period, Walker also made friends with Ernest Hemingway.
In 1935, Walker joined in the US the Farm Security Administration photography program, and he spent nearly two years in the Southern United States to take photos of peasants, people from the working class and their poor life during the Great Depression. Walker’s FSA photographic works soon grabbed the US and the world’s attention. From Walker’s works, audiences can clearly feel how the peasants and the working class suffered from poverty and misery at that time. Also, his works can be a realistic and reliable record of US history.
P4
The characteristics of Walker’s FSA photographic works include firstly, Walkers would like to use large-format 8×10-inch view camera, and such unique technique makes his photos more clearly to present the details of human figures. Secondly, Walker’s works exhibited equal emphasis on both the environment and human figures, and audiences can find a harmonious and interesting association between and environment and human beings. Thirdly, Walker’s works presented realistic scenes. As he describes his own art style as, “my goal as a photographer is to make pictures literate, authoritative and transcendent.”
P5
Here are 15 photographic works by Walkers.
The subject of this work is a female farmer, and she was Allie Mae Burroughs at 17 years’ old. This photographic work becomes symbol of the FSA program in the Great Depression. Audiences can feel the girl’s helplessness and tiredness from her facial expression.
P6
This is another famous work by Walker in 1936. The scene is a roadside stand near Birmingham, Alabama. From it, audiences can find that few fish was sold in the shop, while people still live their peaceful life by selling fruits.
P7-P12
These six works are focused on the landscapes in rural areas of US, and from them, we can feel how the US rural regions experience depression, poverty and being abandoned by people.
P13-P19
These seven works are human figure works, and from them, we can learn Walkers presented humans in realistic style to unveil their inner helplessness, confusion, fear while the remaining positiveness.
