Walker Evans

let us now praise famous men was written in the late 30's in hale county. walker evans, the photographer who accompanied james agee into hale county for the book, went on to photograph greensboro, tuscaloosa, birmingham and the surrounding areas pretty heavily for the farm security administration after the completion of let us now praise famous men. evan's job was to capture the hardships of southern life during the depression. in the process, he preserved excellent examples of southern architecture, culture and humanity. evans is quoted to have said that his goal was to take photos that were "literate, authoritative, transcendent". the new york times recently revisited several places made famous by evan's work. check out some photos:


(bud fields, wife, and child for let us now praise famous men)


(another family, possibly the burroughs, from let us now praise famous men)


(fish stand near birmingham in 1936)


(greensboro in 1936)


(grocery in selma in 1936)


(the same grocery in selma taken in april of this year by the new york times)


(sprott, alabama post office in 1935)


(the sprott post office in 2009. a storm took off the top half of the building)