Blog - vernacular photographs

Before Facebook: A Photographic Collage of Friendship

  Collection of Barbara Levine / projectB.com Photo albums can be more than collections of images; they can reflect a whole artistic sensibility. In this remarkable 1920s example, the inside back cover is a collage of faces and maker has inscribed a question—or a title—at the bottom: A "Million" Friends. Are you Among Them?. It is a (pre Facebook!) photographic map of friendship, and an invitation to find ourselves in it. Save Read more 1 comment Barbara Levine, Found photos, Vernacular photographs, Victorian collage, Vintage photo albums

Found Photos That Belong Together

Happy Birthday, Unknown photographer. Left, Vintage Photograph, 1947. Right, Vintage Photograph, 1959. Available on ProjectB.com Sometimes found photographs from different places and times seem to belong together. Each of these snapshots features wall papered interiors and birthday cakes. Both however, also reveal the casual presence of a possible danger - a rifle aimed point blank and lit candles on a young girl's lap.  They are each interesting images but as a diptych their subtleties are accentuated and a new story emerges about odd and menacing birthdays. Read more Barbara Levine, Collecting found photographs, snapshots, vernacular photographs

Appreciating Found Photos

image © Jane Waggoner Deschner. from the garment series (little boy, dragon), snapshots of James "Jimmy" Schelfhout, 2011 There is a growing awareness that pre-digital snapshots are quickly becoming obsolete. In view of this more is being written and considered about their cultural value (including about artists who use found photos). In the last few weeks, three note worthy articles have come out on the topic: listen to NPR's interview with Robert Jackson "Are Snapshots Dead?"; read New York Times art critic Roberta Smith's exhibition review: "Not for the Family Album: Snap Noir and Photo Brut Display Found Photos"and feast your eyes on artist Jane Waggoner Deschner's stitched photographs featured this week on John Foster's Accidental Mysteries blog. Hooray for... Read more Barbara Levine, Found photos, Photographica, snapshots, vernacular photographs