Negro Church, South Carolina

One of the most significant American photographers of the 20th century, Walker Evans expanded the medium’s boundaries by training his eye on everyday architecture in small towns and rural areas. He emphasized a directness and absence of pretension in his photography. Some pictorial compositions were quite complex, while others were spare and direct, particularly in views of roadside churches, one of his favored subjects.

Though the South Carolina church seen here is small and marked by flimsy construction, Evans forcefully communicated the beauty he discovered in its simple design and in the aspiration of the congregants. Within a radiant light, the building’s form rises from its impossibly thin portico supports toward the peak of the bell tower animated by decorative shingles. In his rigorous frontal view, this church transcends its humble physical state to become something monumental.