Research Paper On Walker Evans

Walker Evans photograph “Roadside Stand Near Birmingham” shows the struggle between this family and the rest of the community during the Great Depression. Two young men holding watermelons and selling fruit and vegetables. These boys are trying to make a living in the depression. These boys look tired and they are determined to sell as many fruits and vegetables as they can. The building is separated into two different businesses in one building, one was “F.M. Pointer, the old reliable, house mover” and the other is a fish and bait shop. These shops look like they are run down but they are the family’s only mean of income. This is what puts food on the table The man in white looks like he is a customer and looks better than the rest of the

Taking photographs may seem simple, but being a photographer is more than browsing through the viewfinder and pushing the exposure button. A photographer needs to know how to analyze the scene, speak in words that language cannot, and reach to the souls of people through a picture. During the Great Depression, many photographers captured the scenes of poverty and grief. However, there was only one photographer that truly captured the souls of Americans. According to Roy Stryker, Dorothea Lange "had the most sensitivity and the most rapport with people" (Stryker and Wood 41). Dorothea Lange was a phenomenal photographer that seized the hearts of people during the 1930s and beyond, and greatly affected the times of the Great Depression.

Life during the Great Depression was very different from life today. Many people were living on the streets in shanties, which were houses made of cardboard and scraps of wood. Milk and sugar were luxuries; you couldn’t buy them unless you were very wealthy. Often, men tried to sell apples in the street, just to make a few cents. Unemployment was a giant problem during the 30s. By 1933, Canada’s unemployment rate was at 30%. One in five Canadians were dependent on government relief to sustain their lives.

“On the morning of October 29, 1929, panicked voices shouted over one another. Here and there, men leaned against the walls, hands over their faces as if trying to shut out the scene. In the street outside, a crowd had gathered, trying to learn the news. A man staggered out the door, clutching his hat in both hands. He looked as though he might weep. “It’s gone,“ he whispered, so quietly only the few closest to him heard. “It’s all gone.”# The term ‘Great Depression’ according to Kristin Brennan evokes black-and-white images of thin men in threadbare suits and worn-out shoes selling five-cent apples on city streets, of “grim-faced women lined up three deep to collect bread and milk at relief stations.”# The Great Depression of the 1930s

America finally had the war behind it. The country was booming and the majority had a carefree attitude. People were accustom to their lives and were not prepared for what was about to happen in 1929. The new decade would be a time of great change for everyone – art included. The 1920’s would bring a rollercoaster of events to America.

Throughout the Great Depression, there were very few who were able to maintain their previous

Steven Evans will be one of the youngest President if elected. He was raised in Santa Barbara, California, then moved to Berkeley to study law. He was voted governor of California at age 36 and began running for Presidency at age 40. He is a regular donor to St Jude’s Children’s Hospital and World Vision. Evans is all about helping children and will go the extra mile to do what he can for them. To Evans, the children are the treasures of the world and our future. Because of that, he enjoy and will spend all his available time volunteering at his children’s school event to raise money. He also volunteers at Oakland Children’s hospital when time permits. His hard work and determination helped him become the man that he is today. Raised in a Christian family, and growing up in an underprivileged and poor neighborhood had made him a more compassionate person.

It consists of an array of artworks, pictures, and photographs along with verbal description of the various conditions of the working class during the great depression starting from the events which led to various riots and violent acts by the working class and a clash between the capitalist class, government, and the working class (M. Elizabeth Boone, 2006). It depicts the California Labor School’s establishment; workers’ disenfranchisement from the service economy; movement of farm workers; and the demographics of the workers changing. The photographs depicted are of Tina Modotti, Otto Hagel, Dorothea Lange, and Emmanuel Joseph while paintings are of Hung Liu and Diego Rivera. The book consists of five chapters taking the audience through the journey of the working class during the great depression (M. Elizabeth Boone,

Many of the most trying and eye-opening experiences America had ever encountered took place during the years of 1919 and 1930; ranging from the end of the war to the stock market crash, the nation stayed together and developed many inventions and ideas that would drastically change the future of America. Most of the time when people speak about the 1920s they describe them as roaring. They have mental pictures that reflect women in flappers dancing with wine glasses filled to the brim in one hand and a lite cigarette in the other hand. They imagine men in expensive tuxedos buying lavish and luxury items such as cars and mansions. They think of works of literature such as The Great Gatsby that depict the 1920s as a place where people were free to do what they wanted when they wanted, whether it was legal or not. The twenties are considered a time where people had more money than they needed and they spent it accordingly. However, that is not the entire concept of the 1920s. The twenties were not just a time of over spending. They were a time of fear. People had never had nor seen this much money in circulation. They had especially not grown custom to witnessing people spend the money on items they did not need.

Beginning in the year 1929, America began its plummeting descent into one the worst economic times in the history of our country. By the early 1930’s, up to fifteen million working Americans had been laid off work. Throughout homes all across the nation, dismayed workers had to tell their loved ones in humiliating defeat that they no longer had the means to provide for their families. The raw emotions shown directly in Walker Evans’s depiction of life and people are powerlessness, pridefulness, as well as hopefulness. An example of powerlessness is the lack of shoes shown in the picture.

American life prior to World War II may have not been the best from 1931-1939. Already in the Great Depression that started in 1929 people were left very discouraged and hopeless. In 1932 the economy was the worst it had ever been, it had hit rock bottom (p. 850). Many had lost their jobs and over 11 million Americans could not find work (p. 850). America was at its worst and people were hungry, suicide rates had risen and people were having less children than ever before. People’s reaction to the

The 1920s seemed to promise a future of a new and wonderful way of life for America and its citizens . Modern science, evolving cultural norms, industrialization, and even jazz music heralded exciting opportunities and a future that only pointed up toward a better life. However, cracks in the facade started to show, and beginning with the stock market crash of 1929 the wealth of the country, and with it the hopes and expectations of its people, began to slip away. The Great Depression left a quarter of the population unemployed and much of the rest destitute and uncertain of what the future held. Wealth vanished, people took their money out of banks, and plans were put on hold. The most significant way in which the Great Depression affected Americans’ everyday lives was through poverty because it tore relationships apart and damaged the spirit of society while unexpectedly bringing families together in unity.

Evans began working closely with the FSA. The Farm Security Administration was one of President Roosevelts ‘Alphabet Agencies’ that helped combat rural poverty in the Great Depression.1 Evans was asked to document certain criteria of the Great Depression, being careful not to show how the reality. Evans work for the FSA was to capture America’s poverty, but being born into a wealthy family, Evans never related with the poor farmers he photographed. Walker Evans is remembered as an

This photo was taken during the Great Depression in the late 1930s. To an extent, the crash of 1929 impacted everyone; however many of the upper class retained much of their wealth and were not affected by unemployment and poverty. As a result, they were severely taxed to help aid the poor. The upper class was furious, because they believed it was not their responsibility to take care of the less fortunate. Surprisingly, class antagonism was a major problem during the Great Depression. I chose this photo for various reasons. Throughout my years of school, I have been taught that the Great Depression affected many, and drastically increased the percentage of unemployment. On the other hand, I had never learned how the Great Depression impacted

Florence in the photograph portrays the real effects that the depression of 1929 had on people in the United States. The real intention