Upstairs Room, Walpole, Maine 1962

Walker Evans made this photograph in Walpole, Maine, and it feels like a painting. The interior is not dramatic, and yet it feels so intimate and personal. I imagine Evans, setting up his camera, composing the view through the open doorway, thinking about space, light, and shadow. What I love about this image is the way the patterns on the wallpaper create a disorienting effect. It's almost as if the walls are breathing, or maybe even collapsing inward. The mirror is a tiny painting, reflecting the room back at itself. It’s not a glamorous painting—it’s modest and worn. I relate to that kind of quiet observation and the poetry you find in the everyday. It’s a reminder that we are all connected through our shared experiences.