I’ve been collecting vernacular photographs for a few years and am interested in the ways artists have found a way to connect with these images of a bygone era. One such artist is Aline Smithson, an LA photographer whose various projects have explored the idea of aging and memory.

Smithson says the following about her “People I Don’t Know” series:

“For 25 years, I have collected photographs found on the ground. Recently I have been drawn to more formal portraits culled from dusty cardboard boxes in thrift stores or ratty suitcases at flea markets. There is an innate sadness connected to these photographs. Who are they? What are their stories?

I wanted the images to be seen again, to be considered and appreciated. In order to infuse life into the images, I asked people of the same gender and approximate age to hold a photograph, leaving room for the viewer to connect the living to those who have passed on. I feel a quiet satisfaction that these portraits get to be part of the world again to be held again, recognized with love and dignity.”

As I photograph domestic interiors decades past their prime (they were new in the 1950s/60s/70s), I’m constantly searching out primary source material like old decorating books and interior design magazines as well as watching TV shows like I Love Lucy, Bewitched and The Brady Bunch to study how people put together their living spaces back then. I even collect sample books (linoleum and carpet) and rolls of wallpaper as a means of understanding the era through a tactile form.

What’s even better is when I find vernacular images of interiors, photos of actual lived-in spaces versus Hollywood sets or the magazines’ well-manicured rooms that emphasis design over function. Flickr user Charm and Poise posted a unique set of slides, taken of her childhood home in 1974.

She says this about the set: “My dad took these pictures for some kind of home owner’s insurance thing. We’d been in this house for two years at this point. It’s funny how odd and barren everything looks. As if we ran out of the house unexpectedly and left all our worldly possessions behind. ”

I’ve posted my 3 favorite slides here, you can see the rest on her Flickr page.

Hello readers, I’ve started this blog as a kind of virtual scrapbook; it will be a more satisfying way of keeping track of and sharing (instead of languishing in my bookmarks) the artists and projects I discover on a daily basis.  I’ll also be posting new photographs from the “Forget Me Not” project, scans of emphemera and vernacular images found at the estate sales and updates about any exhibits/publications that include my work.

Since launching my current Website in April, I’ve been lucky enough to be featured in a few online publications and blogs.  You can currently find selections from “Forget Me Not” in the current issue of F-Stop Magazine.  Photo District News (PDN) also featured Tropical Trophy, Village of Downers Grove as their Photo of The Day back in May.

Thank you goes to LOZ blog,  Andrew Newson, Slightly Lucid and Kevin J. Miyazaki for recently writing about my photographs.