item details
NameSubway, New York. From the portfolio: fifteen photographs by Walker Evans
ProductionWalker Evans; photographer; 1938; New York
Estate of Walker Evans; printer; 1977; United States
Estate of Walker Evans; printer; 1977; United States
Classificationgelatin silver prints, black-and-white prints, black-and-white photographs, works of art
Materialssilver, photographic gelatin, photographic paper
Materials Summaryblack and white photograph, gelatin silver print
Techniquesblack-and-white photography
DimensionsImage: 111mm (height), 165mm (length)
Registration NumberO.002793
Overview
‘Stare. It is the way to educate your eye, and more. Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long.’
Walker Evans wrote these words to accompany a series of photographs he took with a hidden camera on the New York subway between 1938 and 1941. The people he caught unawares gaze into space, or sometimes directly at him, apparently lost in their thoughts – their above-ground lives on hold.