Jigsaw Houses at Ocean City, New Jersey 1931

"Jigsaw Houses at Ocean City, New Jersey" (1931) is a stark black and white photograph by Walker Evans, capturing the architectural detail of a Victorian-era house in Ocean City. The image exemplifies Evans's signature documentary style, focusing on the vernacular architecture of American life. The intricate details of the house's ornamentation, particularly the elaborate gingerbread trim, are highlighted against the plain backdrop, emphasizing both the beauty and the fading grandeur of the building. This photograph, along with many of Evans's other works, contributed to the development of American documentary photography, which aimed to capture the social and economic realities of the time.