Walker Evans' candid photos of 1930s subway passengers are early conceptual art

"I think it is one of the first conceptual art projects that I’m aware of."

"I think it is one of the first conceptual art projects that I’m aware of."

Curator Jeff Rosenheim on a series of photographs by Walker Evans of New York City subway passengers.

Explore this object:
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/259975

Throughout 2013, The Met invited curators from across the Museum to each talk about one artwork that changed the way they see the world. Each episode is interpreted by a Museum photographer.

Photography by Oi-Cheong Lee

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Contributors

Jeff L. Rosenheim
Joyce Frank Menschel Curator in Charge, Department of Photographs

A young girl poses with a stoic face and a hand on her hip. Her dress and hair are accented with flowers.
“Look at her, a bright new fire swiveling to life.”
Deborah Landau
July 14
A collage of blurred images depicts people in various settings, with groups standing near structures and rocky landscapes. The mood is contemplative and somber.
I wept thinking of the many treks around prison rec yards I’d made with men whose crimes would never be forgiven, for whom freedom sometimes felt as unlikely as sainthood.
Reginald Dwayne Betts
June 24
Two women in opulent dress and jewelry sit facing each other on a patterned carpet
Shimmering jewels in Pahari School paintings.
Olivia Dill and Marina Ruiz Molina
May 27
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