Lost and found anonymous photographs
July 24th, 2009 Posted in Uncategorized
There was a really great interview today on KQED’s Forum radio program about collecting old anonymous photographs.
Interviewed was Robert Flynn Johnson by KQED’s Scott Schaefer. Johnson, a curator emeritus from the Fine Arts Museum in SF, talked about people who seek out and collect anonymous photographs from garage sales, flea markets, book stores, estate sales, and other places. Many are old family photos from years ago and don’t have any value. But as Johnson points out, a camera in an amateur’s hands can occasionally produce great photographs. And the thrill is in the hunt looking for photos with that special “aesthetic spark,” many costing just a few dollars.
Johnson has quite a collection of his own, part of which is currently on display at Modernism Gallery at 685 Market St in SF, through the 25th of August. The interview was so interesting I checked out the exhibition a couple hours later. Definitely worth a look if you love photography and images from the past. Some of the photos are amazing. My above photo is of the show card with an anonymous image of Winston Churchill – I snapped it on Market St after seeing the show.
Here’s an embed of the KQED interview – click the play button and check it out…
One Response to “Lost and found anonymous photographs”
By tangobaby on Jul 26, 2009
I guess I’ll see this after I see the exhibit at the California Historical Society. And might as well drop into SF MOMA again, while I’m there. Thanks for the interview.