Material History of American Religion Project

Picturing Faith: Religious America in Government Photography, 1935 - 1943

Episcopal Church
John Vachon
March 1941
King William County, Virginia

By the early 1940s, Walker Evans’ and Dorothea Lange’s photographs were well-enough known to the FSA photographers that John Vachon could write to Roy Stryker that “there are 4 Walker Evans type R. R. stations in town.” Here Vachon duplicates Evans’ style by shooting the building straight on to emphasize its angles and straight line. The church shows no signs of being rooted in time or space; it exemplifies the eternal nature of pure form. For more on the exhibit

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