Get a Rare Glimpse of Walker Evans’ Work

Make plans now to see one of the biggest exhibits ever mounted of the storied lensman’s photographs

During his lifetime, which covered nearly three-fourths of the twentieth century, Walker Evans photographed roadsides, faces, and objects. But what he really revealed was the American vernacular—the everyday life that exposes the country’s resilient spirit. This common strength is seen best, perhaps, in Evans’ efforts to document the effect of the Great Depression on Southern families with James Agee, in what would become their book, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. In Hale County, Alabama, Evans made subjects such as Allie Mae Burroughs and her family into indomitable symbols of their time.

Beginning September 30, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art will host the only American showing of one of the world’s largest Walker Evans exhibits, consisting of more than 300 prints and 100 objects and documents that illustrate Evans’ career in the South and beyond. Can’t make it to California before the exhibit closes in February? View the slideshow below to see some of Evans’ transformative works.