Lower Level Galleries

May 10 – August 2, 2022

Walker Evans, one of the foremost photographers in the history of American documentary photography, worked for the Farm Security Administration from 1935 to 1937. During this time, he made many of the photographs for the 1938 exhibition and publication titled Walker Evans: American Photographs, organized by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). The installation at LRMA of 59 images that were included in the 1938 book or exhibition maintains the bipartite organization of the originals.  The first section portrays American society through images of its individuals and social contexts, while the second consists of photographs of American cultural artifacts—the architecture of Main streets, factory towns, rural churches, and wooden houses. Evans created a collective portrait of the Eastern United States during a decade of profound transformation—one that coincided with the flood of everyday images, both still and moving, from an expanding mass culture and the construction of a Modernist history of photography.

Based on an exhibition originally organized by The Museum of Modern Art, New York and organized by Sarah Hermanson Meister, former Curator, with Tasha Lutek, Collection Specialist, Department of Photography, The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Support provided by Art Bridges

Images:

Walker Evans American, 1903–1975
Houses and Billboards in Atlanta, 1936
Gelatin silver print from a scan of negative in the Library of Congress
Approx.: 8 x 10″ (20.3 x 25.4 cm)
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
© 2021 Walker Evans Archive, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Walker Evans American, 1903–1975
Parked Car, Small Town Main Street, 1932
Gelatin silver print, printed c. 1969 by Charles Rodemeyer
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Gift of the artist, 1975
© 2021 Walker Evans Archive, The Metropolitan Museum of Art