20th c Folk Photos: A Lost Medium

I found this exhibition on the Washburn Gallery ( New York) Archive, which happened in 2008..150 Anonymous photos collected from anitque shops, shows and flea markets acrross North America..The exhibition eplores the modernist tradition of the ready-made in everyday photographs, primarily snapshots, taken by amateurs with easy-to-use cameras.., The Title Plays an important role in the significance of the exhibition. The Word Folk was preferred over the word Found. "Folk in the purest sense of the word is defined as: originating within the general population of a culture; which is an indisputable aspect and the source of this original and engaging imagery.".. " it plays homage to the material being presented"

Press Release:

Photographic imagery is far from becoming an endangered species. As it morphs and changes with the latest technology, it is even more omnipresent, permeating all aspects of our lives with a speed unheard of in the twentieth century. We now post and share our everyday photographs online seconds after they are taken, and often never bother with printing them out. The processed print recording images on roles of film that limited the number of exposures from 24 to 36 images at a time, slowly returned the images back to us on freshly minted deckled squares and rectangles, and preserved moments in time, as tactile objects that are emblematic of the past century. Hence, the concept of the lost medium”

The truth of this passage makes me feel really sad, technology is winning over tactile, soon there won't be anything real left to touch or keep hold of. The annoymyouty of these photographs represents a sense of loss. They are memories of people, cars, skies, family, events..but have been lost along the way,and somehow ended up in markets or shops. This journey of loss,reinforces the reference that over time we have lost these tactile memories of photographs with scratches, fades, and paint blotches, to a digital dazee of techonology, photoshop and "memory cards" Its quite ironic. It makes me want to buy a chunky camera, take photo's of everything around me and keep them, printed and real!!

http://www.washburngallery.com/