Let Us Now Praise Famous Men
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, nonfiction work on the daily lives of Depression-era tenant farmers, with text by American author James Agee and black-and-white portraits by American documentary photographer Walker Evans, published in 1941.
In 1936, at the request of Fortune magazine, Agee and Evans went to Alabama to report on the lives of tenant farmers. During the next five years the project evolved into a visually stunning, multilayered work that conveyed in the first person Agee’s responses to his subjects as an involved observer, as well as his difficulties in chronicling their lives in this manner.
Let Us Now Praise Famous MenBud Fields and his family, Hale county, Alabama, photograph by Walker Evans, c. 1936–37; from the book Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (1941) by Evans and James Agee.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Mindy Johnston.
Citation Information
Article Title:
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men
Website Name:
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Publisher:
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Date Published:
19 August 2025
Access Date:
November 14, 2026