Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Jim Crow

Among the many well-known photos that Walker Evans took in the mid-1930s, a few show business enterprises and the folks who run and patronize them. Here are images from two shoots, the first in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and the second in Sprott, Alabama.

Evans took them while employed by the Farm Services Administration and all can be found in the FSA collections in LC's Prints and Photos Division. Click to view full size.

Evans was notorious for failing to record details about his images and did no better than usual in these instances. The ones from Vicksburg simply say "Negroes and shop fronts." After the first image, I've given enlarged crops to show detail. The others appear without embellishment or caption.


{Caption: Vicksburg Negroes and shop front. Mississippi. 1936 Mar.}

In these details from this image, notice that Evans has framed the shot so that it's not self-contained, but rather spills over on left and right. The people it shows are looking at something outside the frame to the camera's right. The car's license plate says it's from California, and that might be a clue to whatever event is taking place off camera (or maybe not). The structures are unsubstantial, not much more than shacks. The men's clothing varies from quite formal (suit and tie) to shirtsleeves. All wear hats. There's a woman present who moved her head while the shutter was open. She's wearing a dress, stockings, and pumps. This row of shops possesses four barber shops along with low-end retail and service establishments. One has a horseshoe over the door for good luck. An ad shows a lady smoking a Camel cigarette. The cough remedy, 666, is still made (the company boasts: 666 Cold Preparation Family Approved for 100 years). The bright sunshine comes over Evans' left shoulder illuminating the storefronts and casting the doorways into deep shadow.


{Detail of "Vicksburg Negroes and shop front. Mississippi. 1936 Mar."}


{Detail of "Vicksburg Negroes and shop front. Mississippi. 1936 Mar."}


{Detail of "Vicksburg Negroes and shop front. Mississippi. 1936 Mar."}


{Detail of "Vicksburg Negroes and shop front. Mississippi. 1936 Mar."}


{Detail of "Vicksburg Negroes and shop front. Mississippi. 1936 Mar."}


{Detail of "Vicksburg Negroes and shop front. Mississippi. 1936 Mar."}


{Detail of "Vicksburg Negroes and shop front. Mississippi. 1936 Mar."}


{Detail of "Vicksburg Negroes and shop front. Mississippi. 1936 Mar."}


{Detail of "Vicksburg Negroes and shop front. Mississippi. 1936 Mar."}

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Here are some of the other shots that Evans took in this location at this time. From the angle of the sun, the first seems to have been taken at about the same time as the one above. The ones that follow were probably taken the same day but an hour or two after.
















This photo shows a general store in rural Alabama. Again I've included some details from the image. In this case there is only one other shot taken of the same location.


{Crossroads store. Sprott, Alabama. Taken in 1935 or 1936}

Notice that the group of (mostly) black men are dressed in work clothes and two white guys stand out in their light-colored trousers and white shirts. They, the two, probably work in the general store as proprietor and clerk. The bright sunlight sets them off from the others.

Among the men in work clothes, one is digging out something from a container, probably chewing tobacco. His neighbor on the left has a large bottle in his pocket, possibly whiskey. A little ways down the line, next to the gas pump, a guy is smoking a cigarette. The oil tank on wheels reminds me of the service station where I worked when I was in high school in the 1950s; old gear like that oil pump was being phased out during the few years I had part-time jobs there.


{Detail of "Crossroads store. Sprott, Alabama. Taken in 1935 or 1936"}


{Detail of "Crossroads store. Sprott, Alabama. Taken in 1935 or 1936"}


{Detail of "Crossroads store. Sprott, Alabama. Taken in 1935 or 1936"}


{Detail of "Crossroads store. Sprott, Alabama. Taken in 1935 or 1936"}


{Detail of "Crossroads store. Sprott, Alabama. Taken in 1935 or 1936"}


{Detail of "Crossroads store. Sprott, Alabama. Taken in 1935 or 1936"}


{Detail of "Crossroads store. Sprott, Alabama. Taken in 1935 or 1936"}

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Here's the other shot of the store.

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