One Easter morning, I woke up early, like in Breatheless by Nick Cave, without imagining I was about to find something that would stay with me.

I went to KBR Mapfre in Barcelona and visited the exhibition curated by David Campany on the photographic career of Walker Evans, a photographer whose gaze has stayed with me ever since.

What captivated me most were his portraits. He doesn’t just show faces; he captures lives.

Farmers from Alabama, citizens of Chicago, abandoned houses in the middle of the city, cars suspended in time…

Each image is, for me, a story that moves through the eyes and the skin of people. I’m fascinated by how much he manages to convey through his photographs.

I was also drawn to his world of signs, shop windows and advertising. Perhaps because I come from that world, I recognised in his images a language that spoke directly to me.

And his street photography: bars, people having breakfast, driving, lorry drivers loading their daily routines…

Walker Evans turns the everyday into beauty, and I found myself lost in each scene, as if I could invent a story of my own with every photograph.

For him, photography was about storytelling. Each image is a story that invites you to imagine, while he has already told it with precision and poetry. A million stories in a single photograph. Even that final self-portrait that stays with you.

I highly recommend this exhibition: if you want photography to speak to you and tell you stories, don’t miss it.

From today, Walker Evans joins my list of favourite photographers for the way he made me connect deeply with his visual storytelling.

📍 Now & Then: Walker Evans, curated by David Campany for KBR Mapfre Barcelona, also published on Substack