Don’t become married to your beliefs

One of the most controversial things that Walker Evans said when it came to color photography.
To paraphrase, he referred to color photography as “vulgar” and that black and white was the true
medium for photography.

However a few years after he said that, he actually started to experiment with color photography
with a Polaroid camera. Therefore what he did was a bit hypocritcal– but he did the honorable
thing by admitting his mistakes and taking on a new view:

Yale: Have you ever tried color film and do you think it renders a less honest image than black and
white?

Walker Evans.: No, I’ve tried it. I’m in a stage right now that has to do with color and I’m interested
in it. But I don’t think that the doors open to falsehood through color are any greater than they are
through the manipulation of prints in black and white. You can distort that, too. I happen to be a
gray man; I’m not a black-and-white man. I think gray is truer. You find that in other fields. E. M.
Forster’s prose is gray and it’s marvelous.

Yale: Most of the people who have been doing color seem to be drawn to the dramatic, like Ernst
Haas.

Walker Evans: I understand all that, but I’ve now taken up that little SX-70 camera for fun and
become very interested in it. I’m feeling wildly with it. But a year ago I would have said that color
is vulgar and should never be tried under any circumstances. It’s a paradox that I’m now
associated with it and in fact I intend to come out with it seriously.

Takeaway point: I feel one of the most dangerous things is to become married to your thoughts
and opinions. The dangerous part of this is once you get stuck in thinking one sort of way- you fall
into limiting yourself creatively and fail to embrace a larger view of the world.

I find myself making hypocritcal statements all the time and rather than being embarassed about
it: I am proud of it. Whenever I say something that contradicts what I said a year or two ago, it
shows to me that I have learned something new (and that my old self was wrong).
For example, a few years ago I never understood the real value of shooting film. It seemed like a
waste of time and money, especially with the convenience of digital. However now after over two
years of being dedicated to shooting my personal street photography work on film, I better
understand the benefits and prefer it to shooting digitally. Had I been scared to contradict my
previous statements– I wouldn’t have enjoyed the beauty and joy of shooting film.

So don’t become married in your own beliefs whether it be related to photography (or personal).
Keep an open mind – and when it comes to contradicting yourself or being hypocritical – revel in it
and embrace it. Admit your past wrongs, and search to try new things that will help you grow and
develop photographically (and as a human being).

12. Embrace simple cameras

Walker Evans is most famous for shooting the majority of his life’s work on a Leica, a Rolleiflex, or
an 8×10 camera. However one camera that he discovered late in his life was the Polaroid SX-70, a
simple automatic camera that he shot color on.

According to former students, he would always carry the Polaroid with him on his daily outings,
and make “…hundreds of pictures of signs, bits of litter, and the faces of his friends and students.”
(according to friend and student Jerry L. Thompson).

Another story from William Christenberry is that when he went on a trip to Hale County, he
brought his Rolleiflex and the Polaroid SX-70, but Evans never even took out the Rolleiflex from
the case. He only used the Polaroid.

When asked why he embraced using the Polaroid camera, he stated the benefits how it opened
things for him:

“A practical photographer has an entirely new extension in that camera. You photograph things
that you wouldn’t think of photographing before. I don’t even yet know why, but I find that I’m
quite rejuvenated by it. With that little camera your work is done the instant you push that button.
But you must think what goes into that. You have to have a lot of experience and training and
discipline behind you. . . . It’s the first time, I think, that you can put a machine in an artist’s hands
and have him then rely entirely on his vision and his taste and his mind.” – Walker Evans
Takeaway point: One of the worst obessesions that plagues photography is our obession of
cameras (myself included). I have found that personally I spent way too much time early on in my
photography experiences worrying about what camera to shoot with– rather than just going out
and shooting.

If we can learn anything from Walker Evans is that there is a great merit to using a simple and
automatic camera. It breaks us free of limitations– in worrying about technical settings, fancy
equipment, or exotic lenses. It distills the photographic process into a much simpler experience. Of
just pointing and clicking the shutter.

Daido Moriyama comes to mind- shooting the majority of his career on the simple Ricoh GR-series
camera. It is a small and unassuming black point-and-shoot that is easy to operate, carry, and
make photos with.

So when it comes to photography, don’t worry about the camera or technical aspects so much.
Embrace whatever camera you have on with you at the time, whether it be your point and shoot
or iPhone. Having a simpler camera is often better.

13. Compose instinctively

Walker Evans-30

When we first started photography and wanted to learn the rules of composition – we applied
them to taking photos of stationary things like trees, flowers, and landscapes.

However composing when it comes to street photography is much more difficult. When Evans was
asked how he compsed, he said it was much more unconcious and instinctive:

L.K.: There is an abstract about the most literal photograph of yours. Do you think in terms of
composition?

Walker Evans: I don’t think very much about it consciously, but I’m very aware of it unconsciously,
instinctively. Deliberately discard it every once in a while not to be artistic. Composition is a
schoolteacher’s word. Any artist composes. I prefer to compose originally, naturally rather than
self-consciously. Form and composition both are terribly important. I can’t stand a bad design or a
bad object in a room. So much for form. That way it’s placed is composition… when you stop to
think about what an artist is doing one question is, what is the driving force, the motive?”

Takeaway point: One of the biggest problems that I find in street photographers starting off is that
they spend too much time trying to frame and compose a scene– and not just shooting quickly
from the gut. Composition and framing are incredibly crucial to street photography to make an
effective frame – but these are things that come naturally over time. I think it is better to take the
first shot from the gut- and then if you have the time, recompose and shoot the scene several
more times.

But at the end of the day like Evans says– who cares about composition? We should be more
concerned about the “driving force, the motive” of our photography.

14. Take photos worth taking

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One of the critiques that modern digital photography has is that “everyone is a photographer
now.” I really hate that mentality, because the inherent beauty of photography is the democratic
nature.

However just because everyone can literally take a photograph- doesn’t mean it will be a good or
meaningful photograph.

I suppose you can compare the Polaroid of Walker Evan’s time with the iPhone: even an idiot
could use it (which was one of its main critiques). Evans shares his thoughts on why it is the
photographer that matters more than the camera (by using writing as an allusion):

Yale: Maybe that’s one of the worst things about the SX-70 — that there is no technical hurdle.
Just anyone can take shots.

Walker Evans: Well, that isn’t the worst thing. That’s always been true with anything, whether
there’s any technical need or not. For example, we’re all taught to write, and anybody can sit
down and write something. Not everybody can sit down and write something that’s worth writing.
Takeaway point: Everyone who is taught how to write can do it quite easily. However not
everyone who writes has something worth writing about– or worth reading.

Apply the same mentality to your photography. Anyone can take a techncially proficient image
now– but do they photograph something that is worth photographing. Or even more so– do they
take photos that are worth looking at by others?

Ask yourself the question the next time you are out shooting: is the photo I am about to take
worth taking? Will it have a deeper meaning and influence people in an emotional way? Am I
trying to make a statement? Or is this photograph not worth taking?

If the photo isn’t worth taking- just don’t take the shot. Take photos that you feel deep in your
heart and soul are worth shooting.

15. Turn your subjects into participants

Walker Evans-16

One of the hardest things in street photography is taking photos of strangers you don’t know– and
make them feel comfortable about it. At times, people are quite reluctant to being photographed.
But how can we overcome that? Evans shares that we should make them feel more like a
participant, than simply a subject.

“Incidentally, part of a photographer’s gift should be with people. You can do some wonderful
work if you know how to make people understand what you’re doing and feel all right about it,
and you can do terrible work if you put them on the defense, which they all are at the beginning.
You’ve got to take them off their defensive attitude and make them participate.” – Walker Evans

Takeaway point: Although the majority of street photography is done candidly- it doesn’t always
have to be candid. Take candid photos, but also take photos where you interact and talk with your
subjects. Make them feel like they are a part of the photo-taking process, rather than just being
the subjects.

After you take photos of your subjects, talk with them, figure out what their name is, where they
are from, what their interests are. Show them the back of your LCD screen and share what you
saw that was unique about them that you wanted to photograph. Offer to email them or sent
them a copy of the photo. Make them feel like an active participant- and you will succeed more as
a street photographer and human being.

16. Photograph ordinary things

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One of the greatest beauties of street photography is that it celebrates the ordinary and
unadorned things of everyday life. Evans has built a substantial body of work on ordinary things
that he was criticized for. They weren’t considered “art” when he was photographing them – but
he received recognition later on in his life.

“Aesthetically they both justified and vindicated even to myself. And that is that forty years ago
when I was going around with a camera I was doing some things that I myself thought were too
plain to be works of art. I began to wonder – I knew I was an artist or wanted to be one – but I was
wondering whether I really was an artist. I was doing such ordinary things that I could feel the
difference. But I didn’t have any support. Most people would look at those things and say, “Well,
that’s nothing. What did you do that for? That’s just a wreck of a car or a wreck of a man. That’s
nothing. That isn’t art.” They don’t say that anymore.” – Walker Evans

Takeaway point: Don’t always feel obliged that when you shoot in the streets, it has to be
something totally outrageous or out of the ordinary. You don’t need an elephant on the road,
pumpkins on fire, or people doing backflips. Rather, focus on the ordinary parts of everyday life–
and make them appear extraordinary. This will also give you more opportunities to photograph,
rather than just being drawn to the odd and strange event. The beauty of life is in the everyday,
not the extraordinary.

17. Collaborate with other artists

Walker Evans-5

One thing I found most fascinating about Walker Evans is his collaboration with writer James Agee
in creating: “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men.”

The book first was going to be a magazine article about the horrible conditions that sharecropper
families enduredduring the “Dust Bowl” in America. However the magazine article was never
published– but it became into a critically-acclaimed book.
But Agee and Evans both combined their talents (writing and photography) into a book which is
described by Wikipedia:

“Agee’s text is part ethnography, part cultural anthropological study, and part novelistic, poetic
narrative set in the shacks and fields of Alabama. Evans’ black-and-white photographs, starkly real
but also matching the grand poetry of the text, are included as a portfolio, without comment, in
the book.”

Takeaway point: I think the beauty of photography shouldn’t just be restricted. It is one of the
most adaptable forms of art– that can be combined and remixed with other forms of expression. It
is often said that photographs should just stand on their own. I agree to that sentiment in some
regards– but I feel that photography can be transformed into something greater with
accompanying text, video, or audio.

So when it comes to your photography, think about others ways how you can collaborate with
other artists. Think of making a video slideshow of your work, that cuts in interviews with people
on the street. Add ambient noise. Add fictionary text to accompany each photograph (while
stating that they are fictional stories). Use your creativity and collaborate with others who have
great ideas and visions.

Conclusion

Interior Detail, West Virginia Coal Miner's House

Walker Evans was certainly a great pioneer in photography not because he followed the path that
others paved before him, but that he was a rebel and did things nobody else did. He photographed
ordinary things, signs, and people which were against the popular “fine art aesthetic” of the time.

He also disgregarded conventions, cliches, and strove to create visual impactful images photos
that burned themselves into our thoughts and memories.

He was also fervent enough in photograhping America during his time that we have rich images of
what it was half a century ago.

So let’s all try to follow in the footsteps of Evans and pave new ground in our street photography.
Bibliography

Oral history interview with Walker Evans, 1971 Oct. 13-Dec. 23, Archives of American Art,
Smithsonian Institution

“The Thing Itself is Such a Secret and so Unapproachable” George Eastman House, Image
Magazine, Vol. 17., No.4, December, 1974, Originally Published in Yale Alumni Magazine, February,
1974.

Text from the brochure for the exhibit “Walker Evans: Public Photographs “, University at Buffalo
Art Gallery 20 March–24 April 1998

Videos

Walker Evans in His Own Words By the Getty museum

Below is a great video which mixes the audio of Walker Evans and some of his photos – to give you
more insight about him.

Books

I highly recommend purchasing the below books by Walker Evans– as the majority of the images
you see online are either poor quality (or missing many influential images). The bonus is that his
greatest works are readily available and very affordable on any budget:

1. Walker Evans: American Photographs: Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Edition ~ $24.00.

41+Fx2m7b5L._SX260_

A book that you must get for your library, his most famous work on America. A very cheap and
affordable book.

2. Let Us Now Praise Famous Men: The American Classic, in Words and Photographs, of Three
Tenant Families in the Deep South ~ $12.00.

let us now praise famous men

Another book you should get if you are interested in learning more about the share-cropper
families in the South during the Dust Bowl– and if you want to see the original portfolio of images
that Evans shot of the families.

3. Walker Evans: Signs ~ $15

51QC2YZFZNL._SX260_

If you are interested in signage and want to see a great collection of them by Evans – this book is
for you. Also very affordable.

All photographs included in this article are copyrighted by Walker Evans / The Metropolitan
Museum of Art.