Sidewalk in Vicksburg, Mississippi 1936

Walker Evans made this photograph, Sidewalk in Vicksburg, Mississippi, with a camera and film, achieving a palette of grays, blacks and whites. For me, the magic happens when the artist makes these choices about how to register light and shadow, turning three dimensions into two. The texture here is unreal; it's not just the grainy quality of the film, but also the way Evans captures the textures of the clothing and the car and the peeling posters. Think of those two figures; they are almost swallowed up by the weight of the material world that surrounds them. Look closely at the curve of the car's fender, and the dust that cakes on it. This small detail says it all. Evans' work often reminds me of the paintings of the Ashcan School, artists like John Sloan who captured the everyday lives of ordinary people. Like them, Evans sees beauty in the mundane, finding poetry in the grit and grime of the city. It’s a reminder that art isn’t about answers, it’s about opening up a space for seeing and feeling.