Walker Evans #4

Artist have ranging views on photo documentation and whether it is art or something entirely different. Mr. Levy and I had conversation about this topic. It began with the question "What creates the separation between artwork and the photo document?" Pablo Picasso stated that art is something that you find or see, then show in your own interpretation. In many ways this statement is true, Picasso did just this. However, photo documentation is an exception to this theory, the artist will set out with a picture in their mind to go along with a narrative that already exists.

Mr. Levy pointed out Walker Evans' view on his photographs, which is that they are shot in

the photo document style, but are not documenting. Evan's photos were rarely paired with words to provide any recognition of a story. Even though this was the case, the viewer of Evans' photographs almost always try to create a story themselves, turning this artwork into a document. Mr. Levy said that Evans would usually set up his photos. The photo of the bed was surprisingly arranged by Evans to look the way he wanted, deceiving the viewer to think this was in some way documenting something. This arranging alone makes the distinction in my mind that his work is truly art rather than documentation.