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Catalog Data

Artist:
Walker Evans, 3 Nov 1903 - 10 Apr 1975  Search this
Sitter:
Walker Evans, 3 Nov 1903 - 10 Apr 1975  Search this
Medium:
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions:
Image: 20.7 × 15.6 cm (8 1/8 × 6 1/8")
Sheet: 25.3 × 20.2 cm (9 15/16 × 7 15/16")
Mat: 45.7 × 35.6 cm (18 × 14")
Type:
Photograph
Date:
c. 1934
Exhibition Label:
Walker Evans recorded the Great Depression’s impact on rural America with his camera. As a photog- rapher charged by the New Deal’s Farm Security Administration (FSA) to document conditions in the country’s agricultural regions, he carried only the most basic equipment. But that equipment proved more than ample. The FSA pictures taken by Evans from 1935 to 1937 recorded with often-jolting clarity the toll of the Depression on the rural South. This forthright self-portrait was made around this time and captures Evans’s commitment to clarity of vision and his engagement with documentary photography. Having shown his work with Ralph Steiner, Margaret Bourke-White, and George Platt Lynes, and bolstered by friendships with Lincoln Kirsten and Ben Shahn, Evans was at a turning point in his career.
Walker Evans documentó con su cámara el impacto de la Gran Depresión en la vida rural de Estados Unidos. Cuando la Administración de Seguridad Agrícola (FSA) lo contrató para documentar las condiciones de las regiones agrícolas del país, Evans llevó consigo el equipo más básico. Pero ese equipo resultó más que suficiente. Las fotos que tomó para la FSA entre 1935 y 1937 plasman con una claridad perturbadora los estragos de la Depresión en los campos del sur. Este autorre- trato de carácter franco y directo fue realizado en esa época y evidencia la claridad de visión y la dedicación a la fotografía documental que tenía Evans. Habiendo expuesto su obra con Ralph Steiner, Margaret Bourke-White y George Platt Lynes, y apoyado por su amistad con Lincoln Kirstein y Ben Shahn, Evans se encontraba en un punto decisivo de su carrera.
Topic:
Costume\Dress Accessory\Neckwear\Tie  Search this
Self-portrait  Search this
Walker Evans: Male  Search this
Walker Evans: Education and Scholarship\Educator\Professor\University  Search this
Walker Evans: Visual Arts\Artist\Photographer  Search this
Walker Evans: Journalism and Media\Magazine editor  Search this
Portrait  Search this
Credit Line:
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Object number:
NPG.77.54
Restrictions & Rights:
Usage conditions apply
Copyright:
© Walker Evans Archive, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
See more items in:
National Portrait Gallery Collection
Location:
Currently not on view
Data Source:
National Portrait Gallery
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm423db7b89-34e2-4b72-a2da-6930934d31f4
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:npg_NPG.77.54