Here we go... our favorite books about Vernacular Photos and Found Snapshots, in alphabetical order. If there's a book you love and that we didn't list, let us know!
- Americans in Kodachrome. Guy Stricherz. Publ: Twin Palms
- American Photobooth. Nakki Goranin. Publ: W.W.Norton
- Anonymous: Enigmatic Images from Unknown Photographers. Robert Flynn Johnson. Publ: Thames and Hudson
- Around the World: The Grand Tour in Photo Albums. Barbara Levine, Kirsten Jensen. Publ: Princeton Architectural Press
- Close to Home: An American Album. J.D.Waldie. Publ: Getty Trust Publications
- Found Polaroids. Jason Bitner, Tod Lippy. Publ: Quack!Media.
- Funny Pictures: Snapshot Collection. Christian Skrein, Bodo von Dewitz. Publ: Hatje Cantz
- God Bless Americana. Charles Phoenix. Publ: Graphic Arts Center
- Now is Then: Snapshots from the Maresca Collection. Marvin Heiferman. Publ: Princeton Architectural Press
- Other Pictures: Anonymous Photographs from the Thomas Walther Collection. Publ: Twin Palms
- Photo Trouvee. Michel Frizot, Cedric de Veigy. Publ: Phaidon
- Photobooth. Babbette Hines. Publ: Princeton Archirectural Press
- Snapshot Chronicles: Inventing the American Photo Album. Stephanie Snyder. Publ: Princeton Architectural Press
- Snaphots, The Eye of the Century. Carl Aigner, Vince Aletti, Peter Noever, Christian Skrein. Publ: Hatje Cantz.
- Strange and Singular. Michael Abrams. Publ: Loosestrife Editions
- The Art of the American Snapshot: 1888-1978. Publ: Princeton University Press
- The Book of Shadows. Jeffrey Fraenkel. Publ: D.A.P/Jeffrey Fraenkel
- Traffic: Snapshot Collection. Christian Skrein, Bodo von Dewitz. Publ: Hatje Cantz
Thursday, February 28, 2008
ONGOING EXHIBITIONS IN THE USA
The trend of collecting found photographs is spreading, and the museums and galleries are catching the virus. Below is a list of current exhibitions that are not to be missed.
The Art of the American Snapshot, 1888-1978: From the Collection of Robert E. Jackson.
Amon Carter Museum, Fortworth, TX: February 16–April 27, 2008
With the advent of George Eastman’s Kodak camera and roll film in 1888, photography became an everyday aspect of modern life. Trace the history of the snapshot in America, from the late nineteenth century up to the 1970s, in this special exhibition organized by the National Gallery of Art.
http://www.cartermuseum.org/exhibitions/the-art-of-the-american-snapshot-1888-1978-from-the-collection-of-robert-e-jackson
Archive Fever: Uses of the Document in Contemporary Art
Internation Center of Photography, New York, NY: January 18 - May 4, 2008
Organized by renowned scholar and ICP Adjunct Curator Okwui Enwezor, Archive Fever: Uses of the Document in Contemporary Art will present works by leading contemporary artists who use archival documents to rethink the meaning of identity, history, memory, and loss. Over the past thirty years, successive generations have taken wide-ranging approaches to the photographic and filmic archive. The works presented here take many forms, including physical archives arranged by peculiar cataloguing methods, imagined biographies of fictitious persons, collections of found and anonymous photographs, film versions of photographic albums, and photomontages composed of historical photographs. These images have a wide-ranging subject matter yet are linked by the artists' shared meditation on photography and film as the quintessential media of the archive.
http://www.icp.org/site/c.dnJGKJNsFqG/b.3639335/
The American Typologies by Pine & Woods
D3Projects Gallery, Santa Monica, CA: January 5 - March 6, 2008
Pine & Woods have been collaborating on this body of work for eight years. Inspired by Bernd and Hilla Becher, they have rigorously focused on collecting anonymous snapshots with particular themes in order to compose portraits of American culture.
http://d3projects.net/exhibits/the_american_typologies_by_pine_woods_jan_5_feb_23_2008_13
Les Femmes Aux Cigarettes
The Found Photo Gallery, Los Angeles, CA: Starts March 1st, 2008
http://www.thefoundphoto.com/
Disfarmer
Rose Gallery, Santa Monica, CA: January 12 - March 1, 2008
Plucked from obscurity by a dedicated team of researchers, the humble studio portraits of Mike Disfarmer, an eccentric small town photographer from Herber Springs, Arkansas, stand as inadvertent elegies for working Americans from the Depression Era through the turbulence of World War II. At a time of great economic and personal struggles, Disfamer captured with great eloquence and honesty, the reality of the American condition, and its effect on its small town citizens from a rural farming community.
http://www.rosegallery.net/now_showing/index.html
The Art of the American Snapshot, 1888-1978: From the Collection of Robert E. Jackson.
Amon Carter Museum, Fortworth, TX: February 16–April 27, 2008
With the advent of George Eastman’s Kodak camera and roll film in 1888, photography became an everyday aspect of modern life. Trace the history of the snapshot in America, from the late nineteenth century up to the 1970s, in this special exhibition organized by the National Gallery of Art.
http://www.cartermuseum.org/exhibitions/the-art-of-the-american-snapshot-1888-1978-from-the-collection-of-robert-e-jackson
Archive Fever: Uses of the Document in Contemporary Art
Internation Center of Photography, New York, NY: January 18 - May 4, 2008
Organized by renowned scholar and ICP Adjunct Curator Okwui Enwezor, Archive Fever: Uses of the Document in Contemporary Art will present works by leading contemporary artists who use archival documents to rethink the meaning of identity, history, memory, and loss. Over the past thirty years, successive generations have taken wide-ranging approaches to the photographic and filmic archive. The works presented here take many forms, including physical archives arranged by peculiar cataloguing methods, imagined biographies of fictitious persons, collections of found and anonymous photographs, film versions of photographic albums, and photomontages composed of historical photographs. These images have a wide-ranging subject matter yet are linked by the artists' shared meditation on photography and film as the quintessential media of the archive.
http://www.icp.org/site/c.dnJGKJNsFqG/b.3639335/
The American Typologies by Pine & Woods
D3Projects Gallery, Santa Monica, CA: January 5 - March 6, 2008
Pine & Woods have been collaborating on this body of work for eight years. Inspired by Bernd and Hilla Becher, they have rigorously focused on collecting anonymous snapshots with particular themes in order to compose portraits of American culture.
http://d3projects.net/exhibits/the_american_typologies_by_pine_woods_jan_5_feb_23_2008_13
Les Femmes Aux Cigarettes
The Found Photo Gallery, Los Angeles, CA: Starts March 1st, 2008
http://www.thefoundphoto.com/
Disfarmer
Rose Gallery, Santa Monica, CA: January 12 - March 1, 2008
Plucked from obscurity by a dedicated team of researchers, the humble studio portraits of Mike Disfarmer, an eccentric small town photographer from Herber Springs, Arkansas, stand as inadvertent elegies for working Americans from the Depression Era through the turbulence of World War II. At a time of great economic and personal struggles, Disfamer captured with great eloquence and honesty, the reality of the American condition, and its effect on its small town citizens from a rural farming community.
http://www.rosegallery.net/now_showing/index.html
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Rock and Roll images
We are looking into buying and displaying found photographs about garage bands, people playing electric guitar, wannabe rockstars, groupies, local bands.... anything related to rock and roll!
Send us by email a visual of the photos you have.... they might end up in a great gallery exhibition.
Send us by email a visual of the photos you have.... they might end up in a great gallery exhibition.
DEFINITION: Vernacular Photography
Vernacular photography refers to the creation of photographs by amateur or unknown photographers who take everyday life and common things as subjects. Though the more commonly known definition of the word vernacular is a quality of being "indigenous" or "native", the use of the word in relation to art and architecture refers more to the meaning of the following sub-definition (of vernacular architecture) from The Oxford English Dictionary: "concerned with ordinary domestic and functional buildings rather than the essentially monumental". Examples of vernacular photographs include travel and vacation photos, family snapshots, photos of friends, class portraits, identification photographs, and photobooth images. Vernacular photographs are types of "accidental" art, in that they often are unintentionally artistic.
Closely related to vernacular photography is "found photography," which in one sense refers to the recovery of a "lost," unclaimed, or discarded vernacular photograph or snapshot. Found photos can be found at flea markets, thrift stores, yard sales, estate sales, in dumpsters and trash cans, between the pages of books, or on sidewalks.
The use of vernacular photography in the arts is almost as old as photography itself. Vernacular photography has become far more commonplace in recent years as an art technique and is now a widely accepted genre of art photography.
Vernacular photographs also have become popular with art collectors and with collectors of found photographs.
OUR FAVORITE WEBSITES
These are our favorite websites that show, sell, trade or have anything to do with found photographs. Please don't hesitate to tell us if we're missing any!
Vernacular Photographs for Sale
http://www.bighappyfunhouse.com
http://www.thefoundphoto.com
http://www.projectb.com
http://www.snapatorium.com
http://www.spectacular-vernacular-photos.com
http://www.janehandel.com
http://www.ampersandvintage.com
http://www.carlmautz.com
http://sespe.com/snapshot
http://www.gargantuaphotos.com
http://groups.ebay.com/forum/vernacular-photography-enthusiasts/welcome/100002987
Collections of Vernacular Photographs
http://www.squareamerica.com
http://www.accidentalmysteries.com
http://www.timetales.com
http://mallsofamerica.blogspot.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vieilles_annonces/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/vernacular/
http://www.houseplantpicturestudio.com/HPS/liquorwebfotos/liquor.html
http://www.moderna.org/lookatme
http://www.flickr.com/photos/leastwanted/sets
http://westfordcomp.com/updated/found.htm
Journals and Blogs
http://community.livejournal.com/foundphotos/
http://ampersandvintage.blogspot.com
http://www.angelfire.com/ak2/aguzmanphotos2000/journal1.html
Documentary about people who collect vernacular photographs
http://www.other-peoples-pictures.com
Vernacular Photographs for Sale
http://www.bighappyfunhouse.com
http://www.thefoundphoto.com
http://www.projectb.com
http://www.snapatorium.com
http://www.spectacular-vernacular-photos.com
http://www.janehandel.com
http://www.ampersandvintage.com
http://www.carlmautz.com
http://sespe.com/snapshot
http://www.gargantuaphotos.com
http://groups.ebay.com/forum/vernacular-photography-enthusiasts/welcome/100002987
Collections of Vernacular Photographs
http://www.squareamerica.com
http://www.accidentalmysteries.com
http://www.timetales.com
http://mallsofamerica.blogspot.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vieilles_annonces/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/vernacular/
http://www.houseplantpicturestudio.com/HPS/liquorwebfotos/liquor.html
http://www.moderna.org/lookatme
http://www.flickr.com/photos/leastwanted/sets
http://westfordcomp.com/updated/found.htm
Journals and Blogs
http://community.livejournal.com/foundphotos/
http://ampersandvintage.blogspot.com
http://www.angelfire.com/ak2/aguzmanphotos2000/journal1.html
Documentary about people who collect vernacular photographs
http://www.other-peoples-pictures.com
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