Post-Depression Evans

Evans work during the Great Depression would impact photography forever. Just after he finished work with the FSA, photojournalism dominated American photography, especially with the rise of World War II (Guimond 141). Evans himself continued to photograph in the same style he had employed with the FSA. His collection of plates in American Photographs focused on two subjects: American citizens and the houses they lived in. Evans sought to visually define what it meant to live in America through his documentary-style photographs (Cartier-Bresson 38). He produced another collection of photography, Many are Called that included photographs he had taken with a hidden camera on the New York subway, creating portraits of unsuspecting passengers. Again, Evans emphasized anonymity and discontinuity with his subjects (Cartier-Bresson 40). Whatever Evans’ intentions were with his photography, he never had any desire to right society’s wrongs through his photos. Even without political impact, Walker Evans’ photography had a profound impact on the art of photojournalism and an impact on society by bringing light to subjects previously hidden in the dark cloud of poverty and powerlessness.