Jigsaw Houses at Ocean City, New Jersey 1931

Walker Evans made this photograph of "Jigsaw Houses at Ocean City, New Jersey," and I can only imagine him setting up his camera on a quiet street, taking his time with the composition. What strikes me is the crazy lace-like trim, this almost gothic gingerbread excess. I love how he captures the textures—the peeling paint and the worn wood—suggesting something both beautiful and maybe a little bit haunted. Evans was all about showing us the world as it was, without romanticizing it. But somehow, by framing it just so, he reveals a kind of hidden beauty. Maybe it’s a stretch, but I’m reminded of those outsider artists who build these incredible, intricate structures out of found materials. There’s a similar obsessive quality, a need to create something elaborate and personal. Evans shows how ordinary things, when looked at closely, can be totally strange and wonderful. It makes you wonder about the people who lived there, what their lives were like behind those ornate facades.