Nov 3 is Walker Evans’ birthday (he would be 108!) Evans’ photographed people on the New York City subways between 1938-1941. He only published these photographs 25 years later in his book, Many Are Called, which was re-issued in 2004. Read a review about the new edition in the New York Times or listen to a radio interview of the book’s re-release and a related exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Then look at some of Evans photographs on the Getty website or on Visualingual’s blog. What do you think of Evans’ clandestine approach to photography? Do you see similarities between the riders’ expressions during the Depression Era to today’s riders?
NPR interview with Met curator Jeff Rosenheim (audio)
Getty Collection of Walker Evans Subway Portraits
Visualingual’s Blog on Walker Evans’ Subway Portraits
Please post your responses and comments by Thursday, November 10.
I think candid photos featuring unsuspecting subjects are the best kind of photos, so Walker Evan’s approach is ok with me. When someone knows that they are being photographed or filmed, they act accordingly and pose. However with candid photos it allows viewers to get a glimpse of people acting naturally. We see people’s true facial expression which leads us to see their emotions, “unedited”. Still, i expect he must’ve been very careful to not get caught, not everyone is happy with their feeling being displayed for the world to see. Both eras seem to be very stoic in expression, showing little to no emotion, and it could be due to the economic situation of both eras but i believe it’s just a matter of the situation. Everyone’s a stranger to everyone so there no real effort to show emotion. Similarly with the bus, and on flights.
As a young adult living in today’s society, the subway is part of our life. Most of us ride the train everyday. As such, we share the same experiences, one of them being we stare at the fellow passengers. We’ve created eyeing someone on the train as an official pastime; we don’t think twice about it. This is why I think Walker’s photographs are so great. It’s real experiences unscripted. Each of these individuals Walker captured, with their unique expressions, moods, colors, and characters, wasn’t just another face on the train, they were living art who each had a different story to tell.
Wow! Walker Evan’s images are amazing! I love how he is able to capture all the different types of emotions, moods, and expressions of the passengers at the subway. As I looked at these images, I feel that many things haven’t changed. We still have people in trains today, who played their instruments just as it seen in one of his images and the reactions of the passengers are no different either from what I’ve seen today. One person continues to read their newspaper while other passengers might be staring at the man playing the instrument. Many of the passengers have worried, angry, tired, happy and normal expressions on their faces. Some passengers have fallen asleep. All of these images should bring us to a familiar notion of how many of us act on the subway.
Walker’s images are both basic as well as candid. It was a great idea to have taken photos of people unexpectedly on the train basically because when people know they are being photographed they are most likely to hide or put on a show for the camera, but when they are caught off guard it makes the photo more meaningful and more real. People don’t always want to see people in pictures posing to make the photo look better. Its always better to catch the person when they least expect it.
I also forgot to add that nothing really has changed between back then and now on peoples everyday subway ride to their destinations. People still read their newspapers & books, do crossword puzzles and now even play mobile games on their phones. While others are keeping to themselves many or even few sit and analyze what is going on around the watching people have conversations, children laughing, students doing homework and teachers grading tests.
I think Evans’ clandestine approach to photography is the best way to capture images of the people in such small space where packed with strangers, like in a subway cart. We all know that it’s hard to take pictures of the people with their natural expressions, since people would start acting unnatural as soon as they know there is a camera pointing to them. With his hidden camera, Evan successfully captured the interactions among the passengers, whether they are concentrating in reading newspaper, taking a nap, looking around, looking at the performers, ignoring the performers, or just staring at the floor. These images are basically the scenes we see in day to day life on the subway. The riders’ expressions during the Depression Era do not have huge differences to today’s riders’. But each photograph seems to have a story behind it.
Walker’s images are great. My favorite is the one of the man sleeping. As a person who rides the train almost everyday will see at least one person trying to catch up on some sleep. Even though these photos were taken some time ago the body language of the riders are the as same today’s subway riders. You have you businessman reading the paper, the mom holding her son really close to her, the paranoid lady holding her bag and so on. The only difference I see is the clothes. Walker’s unscripted approach of photography really captured the real natural expression of the subjects.
Completely agreed, that is one of the things I failed to mention in my response when talking about how a train ride means something different to everyone. Also the natural expression is quit gorgeous isn’t it? its nice for once to see photos where people aren’t posing and not showing shoe they truly are.
While looking at the photo’s one gets a sense of worry without even knowing that the era they were taking in was during the depression. Each photo describes a different story in the facial expression. I believe this is incredible, I love the secrecy of the pictures and the way the camera had to adjust to the person versus having the person pose and be well aware that they are being photographed. It is incredible how train rides can be like a psychiatrist session. It gives you time to reflect on your day or make your plans, catch up on your reading or for the first time just be able to sit and not do anything. All those expression are portrayed in these photos.
I agree. The facial expressions of the riders tells a story of each rider considering the era it was taken. Walker Evan’s approach to photography revealed the truth of the everyday lives of the subway riders. Had the camera been revealed, the outcome of the photographs would have been totally different. There was no pretense or posing. The photographs of the depression mirror’s that of today’s riders. Although everyone is in their own bubble, they are all effected by the economic crisis one way or another. What I like about Evan’s photography, is the honesty displayed by the subjects. Even though they were not aware that they were being photographed, I can see the interaction between the subjects and the lens.
Walker Evan’s did a great job. He was able to capture something that we would see everyday. Comparing these pictures to todays everyday experiences, nothing much has changed. The subway is one of our most used transportation here in the city and it is great to see the comparison from the past and the current. In his images, we see people who come from different walks of life. And what really caught my eye is the picture of a man singing with his accordion. Nowadays we see many people aspiring to be musicians and hoping to be famous one day. I also agree with what vkim89 posted. We see different facial expressions that seems to have a deeper meaning. It is as if I feel their seriousness and their stress, afterall, they ARE living in the city.
Walker Evan was brilliant by using his incognito approach. I definitely see similarities between the behavior that he was able to capture at the time and what I see now on the subway. People walk around with long faces, crossword puzzles, newspapers etc. I guess technology would be one of the biggest changes in what today’s subway images would look like. I really enjoy Evan’s approach to capturing people because it is hard to photograph strangers and not get a cheesy smile, thats most people’s natural reaction to a camera.