In this conversation, the pair discuss Schwartz’s new book Walker Evans: No Politics. The first book to take seriously Evans’s refusal to act or work politically, Walker Evans offers a sweeping reassessment of American documentary and its histories. Opening with a discussion of Evans’s place in the canon as well as Schwartz’s efforts to problematise canonical histories of documentary, the podcast covers a range of topics, from the publication of Evans’s short, but punchy, review of photographic books, his 1931 essay “The Reappearance of Photography,” to the 1971 retrospective exhibition of his work at the Museum of Modern Art. At the centre of this conversation is a debate about Evans’s legacy, about how and why it needs to be reimagined today.

Stephanie Schwartz is an Associate Professor of the History of Art at University College, London.

Jorge Ribalta is an independent curator and photographer living and working in Barcelona.