Monday, August 3, 1998
Forty years of daily grind recorded through camera
ART: Life in New York from 1920-1960, documented by photographer
Walker Evans, on display at Getty
By Trinh Bui
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The images of mundane activities undertaken by people on an
everyday basis slip by without attention. But it is the common work
performed by the common people that fascinated the late
photo-documentarian Walker Evans’ shutterbug eye.
In "Walker Evans: New York," a new exhibit at the J. Paul Getty
Center, Evans’ portraits of anonymous New Yorkers from the 1920s
through ’60s draws stories from the faces of his unwitting subjects
living in a city that constantly builds and destroys itself.
Spanning 40 years, the exhibit examines the daily lives of the
city’s patrons as they go about their business.
"Fashion and the Street," one particular series of photographs,
examines the ever-changing appearance of men’s attire through the
years while the pursuit of success remains the same. The
photographs reveal candid moments as Evans charts the pulse and
evolution of New York through her residents.
"Looking at Evans’ work is like looking at a topographical map,"
says Weston Naef, the Getty’s curator of photographs. "It starts in
the ’20s and changes in the ’30s and ’40s. There are definitely
visible high points found in the photographs that open the door to
the psychological state of the people living there at the
time."
Evans’ approach in finding clarity and truth relies on capturing
the banal, unguarded moments of life. It is the hunched-over backs,
the despondent gazes lost in thinking and the faces smudged by the
wear and tear of life that turns up in "New York."
"It is in the wonderful moments of inattention and (lack of)
self consciousness that is tremendously revealing with Evans’
work," says John Walsh, the Getty’s art director.
Before hitting the streets of New York, Evans honed his skill at
presenting objective photo essays while shooting the poor of the
rural South during the Depression.
Returning to New York, Evans continued to shoot the stark
realism hidden beneath the hustle and bustle of city life. He shot
people with their backs turned to the camera, often with hands by
their side or tucked in trouser pockets. "New York" is a document
of the workaday life in a daunting metropolis.
"Subway," a series of photo essays in the exhibit, finds Evans
secretly photographing passengers as they let their guard down
while speeding through the subway system. The expressions caught by
Evans’ hidden camera offer a glimpse of faces lost in poignant
self-revelation. Though his pictures lack basic emotional depth,
Evans’ taciturn stills speak for themselves.
"Evans believed that someday, someone would take pictures of
20th century life with the same lucid quality as 19th century
painters like Dickens or Daumier," says Judith Keller, associate
curator of photographs. "But I think Evans has done that as well as
anyone could."
In "New York," several themes reappear in his work. Evans’ love
of the people, architecture and pop culture of New York underpins
the exhibit.
"In his early 20s, he saw New York as a place teaming with life,
a concentrated visual spectacle," says Walsh, "He was fascinated by
the faces of New York, fascinated by the cubist influence of the
buildings."
When Evans realized that his city was changing, turning
second-hand shops and curio stores into gigantic office buildings,
he hastened his chronicle of old New York. With "New York," Evans’
depiction of progress concentrates on the consequences of
progress.
"It’s typical in an Evans photograph," said Keller. "During the
Lindburgh parade, Walker took a picture of the street after the
band had gone through leaving behind trash. He was always
interested in what man left behind in his wake."
ART: "Walker Evans: New York" is open for viewing at the J. Paul
Getty Museum through Oct. 11. For more information, call (310)
440-7360
Photo courtesy of the J. Paul Getty Museum
"Young Man in Casual Business Attire" is a photograph in a
series by Walker Evans.