To me, after reading the New York Times article and viewing some of the images Walker Evans took, it was very interesting to see his works of art. It was very unique to read in the article, how Mr. Evans took photographs of these passengers. He created a distinct, yet clever way to take hidden photographs, by putting it in his coat. Just learning that, I was intrigued. In my opinion, Walker Evans’ secretive and clandestine approach to photography was very clever and unique to me. He knew that no one would allow him to take photographs of them in the subway and that the photographs wouldn’t be candid pictures. With this in mind, he decided to use this secret hidden camera method. What I really was able to understand was how Mr. Evans decided to publish his book a few years after to allow time to pass. This way the people who he photographed would probably be long gone by now.
When viewing some of his subway portraits, it’s very interesting to see how similar the expressions on these people’s faces are similar with the faces of subway passengers nowadays. I was able to see how bored and plain the faces on these passengers were and how some passengers nowadays look like that as well. What I was able to see is how the clothing of these passengers was and how dull everything looked a long time ago. But, now many listen to music, talk on the phone, or play games on their phones on the trains.
Overall, it was very interesting to see Mr. Evans’ style and artistic abilities.
Hi DAmaya,
I completely agree on the point you make when you say that Evans was clever and unique with his approach to taking the photographs. It was definitely an innovative method to achieve the desired results.
Billy