IT'S A SNAP! - GROUP SHOW OF VINTAGE SNAPSHOTS FROM COLLECTORS AROUND THE UNITED STATES

I'm really excited to announce that I'm curating a group show of snapshots from 19 collectors of snapshots in the United States. The show is going to be during the month of February at MAP in Easthampton, Mass. I need a little help from you guys to raise some money so that I can make the show as wonderful as it can be. Can you help????

It's a Snap! Important Group Show of Found Photos Crowd Funding

Here's the press release:

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IT’S A SNAP! FOUND SNAPSHOTS FROM 
TOP COLLECTORS IN THE UNITED STATES

A group show from February 1 to February 28, with the opening on

Saturday, February 14, 5-8 PM, AT MAP (Mill Arts Project) in

Easthampton, MA

Easthampton, MA, January 10, 2015 – Can snapshots be art?  You bet ya!  “It’s a Snap!” Is a show of anonymous snapshots from the collections of some of the most prominent collectors of found photos in the United States.

The exhibition will be on view throughout February at MAP (Mill Arts Project) located in Eastworks, 116 Pleasant Street, Room 137, in Easthampton, MA.  Join the opening reception during Art Walk Easthampton on Saturday, February 14 from 5-8PM, with entertainment by Zack Danziger. The exhibition is free and open to the public, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 12-5 PM. 

In the age of the selfie, it is not surprising that the paper snapshot still holds a special place in our culture.  Snapshots are the rage and have been the subject of books and major museum exhibitions in the past few years. The personal printed photo has always been a way for humans to record family, friends and important life events. They are about memory and nostalgia. Now more than ever with digital media dominating our photo memory making and printed photos disappearing from our lexicon, snapshots exert a powerful tug on us.  We still live in an age where boxes or albums of family photos are tucked away in a closet or attic.  To take them out and view them (or to see them exhibited in a museum or gallery) is to engage in a voyeuristic ritual not unlike watching a reality TV show. Snapshots tell us about social conventions, fashion, hairstyles, and what was considered important enough to be captured via the camera. They are simply history we can see.  

Curator Stacy Waldman says, “I want to show people how an anonymous snapshot, sometimes with quirks and mistakes, can be magical.”

Waldman has been dealing and collecting in photographs since 1999.  She is excited by the prospect of this exhibition, where collected snapshots can be seen as art.  She sets up a photo and ephemera shows throughout the country. Her collections can be found at facebook.com/houseofmirthphotos and houseofmirthphotos.blogspots.com

One participating collector in the exhibition is Robert E. Jackson who has collected snapshots since 1997.  In 2007, his collection formed the basis of The National Gallery of Art’s show and catalog entitled: “The Art of the American Snapshot: 1888-1978”.  

Jackson notes, “It is an honor to have Stacy Waldman ask me to participate in a group show whose members have such good eyes for images and who all have such wonderful collections.  I try never to miss an opportunity to share with a larger audience the exciting photo medium which is the snapshot.”

WM Hunt, another collector in “It’s a Snap”, is a champion of photography.  He has been looking at and talking about pictures for many years.  He has written two books “The Unseen Eye: Photographs from the Unconscious” and “Hunt’s Three-Ring Circus”.  He lives quietly in New York City surrounded by stuff.

Hunt says, “People get hung up on the notion of legitimacy when it comes to photographs and specifically snapshots.  'If I can take them, how can they be art?'  My advice.  Relax.” 

The full roster of collectors whose photos will appear in the show include:

Steve Bannos (Garantuaphotos.com), Peter Cohen, Maria DiElsi, John Foster (accidentalmysteries.com), Mark Glovsky, Clare Goldsmith, Richard Hart, WM Hunt (WMhunt.com), Robert E.Jackson,(instagram.com/Robert_e_Jackson), Nigel Maister (foundphotographs.com), Sabine Ocker, Nicholas Osborn (facebook.com/pages/wwwsquareamericacom/23010434588) Billy Parrott, Ransom Riggs (ransomriggs.com), Randall De Rijk, Ron Slattery (bighappyfunhouse.com), Albert Tanquero (thefound.com), Erin Waters (finedags.com), John Van Noate (flickr.com/photos/82329524@N00/sets/72157600314602483/

For more information about this exhibition, please contact Stacy Waldman at Houseofmirthphotos@gmail.com.

The Mill Arts Project is a collaboration between Easthampton City Arts+ and Eastworks that offers gallery space to incubate new curatorial voices in a community context. While curators bring a vision and dedication, Eastworks and ECA+ assist with space and offer an intensive educational curatorial and organizational guide as well as assistance in project direction. Learn more about ECA+ at easthamptoncityarts.com/MAP.

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