Second Avenue Lunch / Posed Portraits, New York

Taking a cigarette break from the grill, this short-order cook leans with his arm around a seated man also having a smoke just outside the diner. Both men look directly at Walker Evans in a rare posed portrait from Evans's body of work. Though their particular relationship is unknown, they greet the photographer with an easy candor and self-awareness. The sign above their heads, ever present in Evans's photographs, advertises the day's menu choices, all variations on a theme.