This article was originally in the Focus column of Snapshot, the project b Newsletter by Barbara Levine

This found photo is an excellent example of early vernacular color photography. The atmospheric blues, the white hot reflection off the red car's chrome, the angle of the woman and the shimmering people in the background, make for a captivating and mysterious composition. The image brings to mind the work of contemporary photographer Joel Meyerowitz. In an email dialogue with Michael Abrams, author of Strange and Singular (a must have for your photo library), he suggested the following caption for the photo: "Garry Winogrand's mom waits patiently as her son snaps away."

There seems to be an increased interest in early color photography. The current issue of Aperture magazine features an article by Martin Parr entitled: "Colour Before Colour (was also an exhibition at the Hasted Hunt Gallery in 2007)" in which he addresses great color pictures being made in the 1940s. A Century of Colour Photography From the autochrome to the digital age by Pamela Roberts is an excellent new book on the history of color photography and even addresses amateur and vernacular color photography. Cheryl Ohland, who sells weekly on ebay, says she has seen a dramatic increase in interest in her color snapshot auctions. Some of her closing prices for vernacular 1960s color snapshots have gone as high as $150. According to Ohland, "color snapshots seem to be snapped (no pun intended) up by more long time collectors and those collectors seem to have a more advanced/ artistic eye and feel color is the next step up."

To meet the growing demand for excellent color snapshots project b now has a color category in its vintage photographs section -- check out all the great color snaps!