Greensboro, Alabama

Walker Evans disliked the term "nostalgic"; however, looking at this view down Main Street in Greensboro, Alabama, it is easy to understand why people use this term to describe his photographs. The two-lane street seen here is lined with charming buildings that house a barber shop, a coffee shop, a telegraph office, and the Alabama Power Company. Coca-Cola and Dr. Pepper advertisements abound, while traffic is limited to a single, moving car. In the background, the commercial thoroughfare gives way to a tree-lined street, which leads to the town's rural surroundings.
Evans's documentary style aimed to record the slow-paced atmosphere of small-town America, where a mere block of one- and two-story buildings provided all the commerce in this farming community. "To be interested in what you see that is passing out of history," Evans once said, "even if it's a trolley car you've found, that's not an act of nostalgia."