Jigsaw Houses at Ocean City, New Jersey 1931

Walker Evans made this photograph, Jigsaw Houses at Ocean City, New Jersey, with a camera, a device that stops time. But what I love about this image is how it invites us to slow down and really look. The photograph shows a house, or, more accurately, a façade of gingerbread trim, ornate latticework, and gables, all frozen in monochrome. But the real subject is how we see. Evans isn't just documenting architecture; he's exploring the process of perception itself. Look at the intricate details, the play of light and shadow – it's almost like a visual puzzle. The textures, the contrast between the solid structure and the delicate ornamentation – it’s all so deliberate, so considered. It makes me think about Bernd and Hilla Becher, who also photographed industrial buildings with such careful attention, finding beauty in the mundane. But in this photograph, Evans elevates the ordinary, transforming a simple house into a study of seeing. It's a reminder that art isn't just about what we see, but how we see it.