The Essence Of An Age

Wow! Has it really been five months since I posted to this blog? I guess I've gotten lazy by just posting photos to Facebook. On Facebook I feel less compelled to write anything to go with a photo.

Yesterday afternoon while roaming around downtown Asheville looking for pictures, I spied this teenager standing at a busy intersection completely engrossed in her smart phone. She seemed oblivious to the traffic, the people walking around her, and everything else that wasn't contained in the world of her phone. It was a scene we've all seen thousands of times, and I thought it summed up much of what life is for many people in 2016.

21st Century Teen, Asheville, NC  -  2016

Walker Evans made a photo back in the summer of 1929 of a woman standing on the Coney Island Boardwalk. Her clothing, her pose, and her seeming fascination with the goings on of the beach all speak of the carefree world of pre-depression America. You could say that Evans captured the essence of an age in his photo. Not to compare myself with Evans, but in a way, I think my photo does too. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Woman on Coney Island Boardwalk 

by Walker Evans, 1929