Walker Evans American Photographs – Exhibition and Photobook

and their Affects on Photography’s Status as Art

Walker Evans is one of the best known American photographers. Quantities of publications have been released about him since his famous exhibition American Photographs at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1938. Nevertheless, most of his iconic pictures weren’t supposed to be shown as fine art in the beginning. Many of them were taken during Evans work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA), a governmental program between 1935 and 1944, that was founded to raise attention for the poverty of the American countryside population. In fact, his exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art was the first one-person photography show in an art museum, which marks it as a milestone in photography’s history, as well as for photography’s status as fine art. The importance of the exhibition is still noticeable. In 2013 the Museum of Modern Art presented a 75th anniversary show with a display of more than 50 prints from the original exhibition. Furthermore, they published a new edition of  the corresponding photobook. 

Let’s have a look at Walker Evans’ exhibition of 1938, as well as the accompanying publication and see if and how they affected the status of photography as art. Can we find any strategies in Evans’ photographs that might indicate that the work has been made for an art context? How does the exhibition’s display and interpretation contribute to our understanding and valuing of it as art?

Walker Evans American Photographs, MOMA 1938

In 1938, Walker Evans was asked to give a solo photography exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Evans already had exhibited in the MOMA in the previous years, but the uniqueness of this exhibition was the fact that it was the first one-person exhibition of a photographer. The exhibition space wasn’t the usual Gallery but a contemporary space in the basement of the Rockefeller Center. The exhibition opened on 28 September 1938 and finished after two month on 18 November 1938. Afterwards a slightly varied version of the exhibition circulated to ten venues around the United States until 1941. Although, the Museum of Modern Art’s curator of photography, Beaumont New Hall, was rightfully accountable of curating the show, Walker Evans himself took over his part and created the display, including the planning, editing and sequencing of the show. According to New Hall, Evans chose one hundred of his works and installed them, together with his friend Lincoln Kirstein – over night. The presentation of the photographs was very varied. He used different formats for his prints and cropped them depending on the context. Some of the prints were shown in square white frames behind glass, whereas others were simply mounted on boards or glued directly on the wall.

 

However, the arrangement of the pictures was not arbitrarily. The context between the photographs was very important for Evans, even though there is no narrative order to find in his work. A picture can have a designated meaning next to another image, whereas it can have an unmitigatedly different meaning next to another one. The one hundred photographs Evans chose for his show were divided into two parts. The first part was presented on the southern side of the exhibition space and was dedicated to show the population of East America. Most of the photographs were portraits of people in their ordinary environment, local advertisement and photographs of statues representing local heroes. The second part on the other hand, gives an outline of vernacular architecture. Evans shows different types of houses and churches in urban and agricultural areas, creating an architectural identity of the United States of America.

Walker Evans’ Photographic Work

With the structure of Walker Evans American Photographs exhibition in mind, we can now have a closer look at Evans and his photographic work. Evans was born in 1903 in St. Louis, Missouri and died in 1975 in Yale, Connecticut. His photographic carrier started in 1928 when he returned from a one year stay in Paris, where he had tried to become a writer. Back in New York he learned how to use a camera and got his first commission to take photographs for a book. His early photography was greatly influenced by European Modernism. In his early years, his intention was “to bring the strategies of literature – lyricism, irony, incisive description, and narrative structure into the medium of photography“, as the Metropolitan Museum of Art claims. In 1935 Evans started to work for the Resettlement Administration (RA), later Farm Security Administration (FSA), a governmental photography program that should raise attention for the poor conditions in rural areas during the American depression.

Although, Roy E. Stryker, head of the association, predetermined the photographic topics, Evans worked in his own style. He traveled through the eastern parts of the United States and stayed with farmer families for several weeks. Evans, with his background in writing, was interested in the stories behind the pictures. In contrast to his colleague Dorothea Lange, he got to know the people and portrayed them in a more personal and intimate way. Around one third of the photographs shown in the American Photographs exhibition originate in his FSA work. An example therefor is his famous picture Alabama Tenant Farmer Wife. The photograph was taken in 1936, when Walker Evans and James Agee lived with Allie Mae Burroughs (the portrayed woman) and her husband Floyd in their small cabin for several weeks. The family lived under poor circumstances and owned nothing. Their land, cabin and tools were leased from their landlord and their costs for leasing and living were higher than their income. Evans took four photographs of Allie against the wooden wall of their cabin and chose the most pleasing, inviting, and amenable from his negatives to show in the exhibition. The portrait was taken very close-up and allows the observer a straight look into the woman’s eyes. Thereby, he creates a very familiar and intimate moment. The woman’s face is signed by her hard live. Although, taken on commission for his FSA work, the photograph reveals Evans artistic style of photography. He shows her in a clear and straight way, refusing any kind of artistic pictorialism. The framing of the portrait, nevertheless, gives us the impression of a Madonna or a modern Mona Lisa.

To give another illustration on Evans’ photographic style, let us have a look at the picture New Orleans House (1935), which was part of the second section of the exhibition. The picture shows three almost identical houses which could be little greek temples with rooms to let in. The  photography department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York suggests it to be a portrait of siblings who are quietly struggling to survive, searching for recognition and separate identities that they may likely never realize. Despite its interpretation, the photograph shows Evans signature style. The perfect front view of an architectural building was the base for his well known street photography in the 1930’s. The influence of the French photographer Eugène Atget becomes particularly obvious in these pictures. Atget documented the old and disappearing Paris around 1900. His idea was to catalogue systematically all details of the city, before they would vanish in consequence of the industrialization. He portrayed the city in an objective and straight way which is also perceptible in Evans work. Also the idea of cataloguing repeats in Evans’ American Photographs, revealing an image of American people. Another predecessor of Evans was August Sander who had the aspiration to create a complete overview of people of the 20th century in Germany. Having taken all these factors into account, Evans’ photographs indicate both, artistic effort and documentation. Notwithstanding emerged in the FSA context, his photographs aren’t socio-critical on the first view. In fact they imply a deeper critical aspect involving the story behind the picture.

The Photobook :  Walker Evans American Photographs

Accompanying to the exhibition, the Museum of Modern Art released a photobook with the same manifesting title, Walker Evans American Photographs. Significantly, Evans didn’t accept the limitations of the book to be an explaining exhibition catalogue, on contrary, he saw the publication as an independent book fortuitous to the limited run show. In contrast to the swift installation of the exhibition in one night, Evans spent most of the year 1938 on the photobook. He edited it together with his friend Lincoln Kirstein, who also wrote an essay that appears in the book. All together the photobook features 87 black and white photographs, many of them appearing in the exhibition, but not all of them The format of the book is 8to the pictures. The details of the photographs and the included essay are listed at the end. Corresponding to the exhibition, the book is separated into two parts. Similarly, the first part consi.75 x 7.75 inch which makes it easy to handle and the square easily accommodates both, vertical and horizontal images. The photographs are printed on the right side of the book, the pages on thsts of 50 photographs illustrating American people in their vernacular enviroe left contain only the page numbers in the corner. Besides of this, there is no writing added ment. With the first and second image, Evans refers to photography itself. He shows a small and old looking photo studio and an advert of a photo studio showing a collection of portraits with the lettering Studio. The advertising poster itself reveals a profile of the local society.

 

These pictures are followed by portraits, adverts and statues and finally by a picture of a big house looking like an old temple with a fallen and disrooted tree in front of it.  Also in the manner of the show, the second part presents an overview of the vernacular architecture. He opens and closes the section with a photograph of crushed fragments of tin ornaments. The other 35 images picture houses, churches, house entrances and a steamboat. The two parts are followed by an Essay written by Evans’ friend and co-editor of the book, Lincoln Kirstein, who discusses the status of photography as art and praises his friends work. How important the sequence of the photographs is for Evans’ work is also noticeable in the essay. Kirstein warns against the miss-understanding of the book and gives the reader some instructions how to read it. “The photographs are arranged to be seen in their given sequence. They demand and should receive the slight flattery of your closest attention. They are not entirely easy to look at. They repel an easy glance. They are full of facts they have to be inspected with more care than quickness.“  Even though there is no narrative in Evans’ photobook, the importance of the sequence is undeniable. It is in the nature of a book that all included parts depend on each other. With this in mind, it doesn’t surprise that Evans followed the same concept in his exhibition. Therefore, I would claim that Walker Evans American Photographs book isn’t an exhibition catalogue, in contrast, the show could be seen as an exhibited version of the book.

The Affect on Photography’s Status as Art

Having a good idea of the exhibition and the photobook, we can now discuss how they have affected photography’s status as art. In the first place, we have the most obvious factor: the exhibition as the first one-person photography show in the Museum of Modern Art and in an art museum in general. The viewing of an exclusive photography show in an art museum raises photography into the canon of fine art. We should also consider the fact, that the Museum of Modern Art is one of the most important museums for modern and contemporary art. Them showing Evans’ work can be seen as a statement and a recognition of photography. With showing his photographs they also converted Evans work from documentation to fine art (e.g. his FSA work). Considering that leads inevitably to the question, why they chose Walker Evans for their first show. What criteria were they looking for? Maybe we can get to the bottom of things considering what strategies in Evans’ photographs might indicate that the work has been made for an art context? 

As mentioned above, Evans’ style was influenced by photographers like Eugène Atget and August Sander. Whilst other photographers in the same period still tried to imitate painting with soft-focused pitoresc photographs, Evans’ clear and straight ’anti-art’ style shows an unmistakable similarity to European Modernists. This could be an indicator why the Museum of Modern Art might have chosen his photographs. Another key thing to remember is, that Evans declared himself to be an artist. Notwithstanding working for the Farm Security Administration program, he had an artistic demand on his work. On the other hand, should we question, if  Walker Evans work would have been acknowledged as art if the Museum of Modern Art hadn’t placed him on the pedestal of fine art.

Furthermore, we could reflect how the exhibition’s display and interpretation contribute to our understanding and valuing of photography as art. The presentation of two artworks, an exhibition and a photobook, which are both based on the idea of sequence and context of photographs, remains how photography is presented in contemporary exhibitions and photobooks. Photography, in contrast to painting, seems to be ideal for showing aspects in serials. While painters need days, weeks or month to finish an artwork, photographers can record different aspects of a topic in a short amount of time. Also the form of a book seems to be made for photography. Prints can easily be made and the presentation as a sequence in a book offers the opportunity to create different meanings. Down to the present day, context is an important factor of our understanding and valuation of photography.

After all, we can claim that Walker Evans American Photographs exhibition and photobook had an affect on photography’s status as art. As the first one-person photography show, the exhibition is a milestone in the history of photography. Nonetheless, we must also critically reflect what factors make Evans’ photography to art and in what context they have been shown. Finally, the example of Walker Evans illustrates, that you can’t strictly separate between documentation and art in photography.

Bibliography

Campany, David, and Walker Evans. Walker Evans: The Magazine Work. Göttingen: Steidl, 2014.

Evans, Walker, and Jerald C. Maddox. Photographs for the Farm Security Administration, 1935-1938: A Catalog of Photographic Prints Available from the Farm Security Administration Collection in the Library of Congress. 2nd Pbk Print. ed. New York: Da Capo, 1975.

Evans, Walker, and Lincoln Kirstein. American Photographs. 50th-anniversary ed. New York, N.Y.: Museum of Modern Art ;, 1988.

Evans, Walker, and Lincoln Kirstein. American Photographs. New York: Errata Editions, 2008.

Hill, John. American Photographs: Legacy of Seeing. In Evans, Walker, and Lincoln Kirstein. American Photographs. New York: Errata Editions, 2008.

Keller, Judith, and Walker Evans. Walker Evans: The Getty Museum Collection. Malibu, Calif.: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1995.

Department of Photographs, Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York. Walker Evans (1903–1975), Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/evan/hd_evan.htm.

Department of Photographs, Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York. Alabama Tenant Farmer Wife, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History.

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/2001.415.

Department of Photographs, Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York. New Orleans House, 1935. Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History.

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/2011.553.4.

Library of Congress. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/fsa/.

Museum of Modern Art, New York. https://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/1388.

Museum of Modern Art, New York. http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2013/08/01/two-views-of-walker-evanss-american-photographs/.

The New York Times. July 19, 2013, p. C23. New York. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/19/arts/design/walker-evanss-american-photographs-at-moma.html.