The Museum of Unknown Photography, created by artists and vernacular photography collectors, Barbara Levine and Paige Ramey shows how photography, since its invention, continuously breaks out of the frame and spills into all sorts of cultural byways. From whatever vantage point or view, photography seems to almost have a gravitational pull to subvert its original context and create new forms within the medium. Our museum shares a collection of artifacts (on this page are a few examples) that reveal the myriad and often surprising ways that everyday photography has flowed into our culture and consciousness—commerce, art, memory, diversions, etc. to unlock something important about cultural history, photography, and popular culture.
We are happy to share our collection and experience with photography groups, students, curators, writers and historians. Questions?