Wooden Houses, Boston 1930

Walker Evans made this photograph of wooden houses in Boston, in black and white. Look at these houses! They repeat, yet each has subtle differences, like siblings in a family portrait. I'm thinking about Walker Evans, out there on the street, squinting through the viewfinder. Did he feel like an intruder, or did the houses invite him in with their silent stories? I imagine he framed the scene deliberately, wanting to capture the way light plays on the clapboard, emphasizing the textures and angles. He probably understood that each detail, from the ornate trim to the slightly askew shutters, tells a story about the people who lived there, the passage of time, and the spirit of a place. Evans' photography reminds us that art isn’t just about grand gestures; it’s about finding poetry in the everyday.