research assignment 1

Walker Evans was born in St. Louis, Missouri on November 3rd, 1903 and died on April 10th, 1975 at the age of 71. He was known for his documentary-style images of life in the US. His portraits of the depression era have become some of the most iconic images that were taken in the 20th century. The majority of his work was done in black & white and the subject matter consisted mostly of the everyday life of the US. After looking through his work, you make the statement that his pictures were a mix of centered and irregular compositions.  He got his inspiration from his time spent in France, he set out to document the authentic and ordinary details that he now saw in his homeland based on his time in France. 

James Van Der Zee was born on June 29, 1886 and died on May 15, 1983, at the age of 96. He was known for his posed, storied pictures capturing African American citizenry and celebrity. The majority of James’ work was as well mostly black and white, and the subject matter consisted on the everyday lives of African Americans in general and also many celebrities later on in his career. After looking through most of his work, a lot of his pictures have centered composition. His motivations in making the pictures he made, came after his work was rediscovered by photographers and photo-historians and he received more attention than he ever received before. He proceeded to come out of retirement to photograph celebrities who in return promoted his work in exhibits around the country. 

https://www.gallery.ca/collection/artist/walker-evans

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-walker-evans-changed-way-america#:~:text=Inspired%20by%20his%20French%20cultural,now%20saw%20in%20his%20homeland.&text=While%20Evans's%20realism%20was%20clearly,his%20role%20as%20a%20documentarian.

https://www.biography.com/artist/james-van-der-zee

http://www.howardgreenberg.com/artists/james-van-der-zee#:~:text=In%201967%20James%20Van%20Der,in%20exhibits%20around%20the%20nation.