Erik Kessels on Found Photography, Family Loss, and the Images Nobody Notices Modern Anthropologist: Erik Kessels on the "Ecology" of Images and the Philosophy of Mistakes Transmission 340: Interview with Erik Kessels Erik Kessels is an artist, designer, curator, publisher, and creative whose work has fundamentally reshaped how people think about photography in the 21st century, and who has spent over three decades proving that perfection is overrated. He is known for his unconventional approach to images, not as a traditional photographer but as a collector and re-interpreter of found photography, elevating everyday snapshots and vernacular images into visual narratives that surprise, delight, and challenge viewers; and for his fascination with "fabulous failures," vernacular photography, and the intersection of advertising and fine art.

He owns 50,000 family albums, never shoots for work, and thinks the most honest photograph is the one that went off in someone's pocket by accident. Erik Kessels in conversation. #Photography #VisualCulture #ContemporaryArt #FoundPhotography #CreativeProcess #ArtInterview @erik.kessels

A pile of bright white decorative stones of differing and vaguely roundish shapes fills the frame.

Assorted.

(From the archives for today's #BlueskyArtShow theme #stone.)

#photography #fujifilm #xt20 #foundphotography #eastcoastkin #rocks #white #filltheframe #eastcoastkin

Caught a flash of pure love and positivity today! The best greetings are the ones you don't anticipate. This bright, smiling, heart-graffiti 'Hi' was a delightful surprise hidden behind a fence. Love the optimism here. Have a great day, everyone! ​ #streetart #graffiti #foundphotography

Caught a flash of pure love and positivity today! The best greetings are the ones you don't anticipate. This bright, smiling, heart-graffiti 'Hi' was a delightful surprise hidden behind a fence. Love the optimism here. Have a great day, everyone!
​
#streetart #graffiti #foundphotography

The weekend starts NOW! Pictured: “Dancing in the Kitchen, Preston, Connecticut circa 1955” from the book Americans in Kodachrome 1945-1965 by Guy Stricherz. #fridayfeeling #fridayfeels #thankgoditsfriday #fridaymood #fridaymotivation #lobotomyroom #kodachrome #foundphotography #kitsch #weekend

#AfterwordBooks #Zines #FoundPhotography #DanseMacabre #AViolentLife #Untamed #ArtBooks #ToshBerman #CollageArt #FoundPhotos

Please enjoy the incomplete tale of the ≈60 year old roll of exposed film I found in a ≈hundred year old camera that ends with the reveal of some very sweet photos taken of a house, a cat, and a car.

#lomography #foundphotography #photography #film

ghoulnoise.com/oldest-roll/

Free photo book from roll of found film — onewordlong the art of jrc Downloadable chapbook, 16 pages. Life in Brooklyn.

I made a chapbook from the roll of photos found in the used Diana Mini I bought.
You can download the pdf/cbr from this post on my website:
buff.ly/axd0fUe
#Holga #Diana #lomography #HeyLomography #FilmPhotography #FoundPhotography #Photography

#zine #foundphotography #jasonbbernard #jenniferwallisbernard #homemadezine #photography #art

'Reverb' - Experimenting with weaving and collage - using the central woven structure to support and suspend different components. #tapestry #mixedmedia #letraset #collage #foundphotography #analoguecollage #handmadecollage

A handful of people move towards their trailers, which have been flooded. Black and white.

New acquisition to the vintage flood photo collection. 1967 trailer park, not sure where. #foundphotography

1880-1890s, going by the card stock thickness and color.

#cabinetcard #foundphotography #vintagephoto #vintagepictures #blackhistory

Experiment- thinking for ages about making work with found photographs / ephemera and weaving - lots of ideas to work through - the sun shining on this piece / shadows inspired me to take a picture of ‘work in progress’ #Mixedmedia #tapestry #tapestryweaving #textileart #Collage #foundphotography

In 2017, filmmaker Lee Shulman bought a random box of Kodachrome slides and was so taken by the people and stories he discovered that he decided to create an ongoing archive, which he has called The Anonymous Project.

#Photoland #photobook #anonymousproject #foundphotography #Kodachrome #archive

Machine shop workers

Dry goods factory workers

Dock workers

Tribute to the workers of the world - the backbone of civilization.

1. Machine shop workers, 1940s
2. Dry goods factory workers, 1900s
3. Dock workers, Japan, 1908

#mayday #may1 #worker #foundphotography #vintagephotography #vernacularphotograph

Japanese Geisha watercolor art

A picture I took on my tablet. I took this picture after I took a shower a few days ago. It looks like a Japanese geisha/geiko woman with a fan, and her kimono is dragging through the floor
#water #waterphotography #foundphotography #geisha #geiko #geigi #Japanese #Japan

Washington DC

1. 1900s
2. 1930s

#foundphotography #vintagephotography #vintageblacklife #africanamericanphotography #blackhistory

Rusted grating where a tree once stood and the words "NOT ART" stenciled in white.

Dismembered broken open lobster body and claw lying on the road next to scrubby grass

Not art

#FoundPhotography
#StreetPhotography
#Photography
#NotArt #EagleFood

1952 "Misty in the sewing kit" A woman sewing with a kitten curled up in a basket

Downtown Las Vegas, 1952 The Golden Nugget sign and traffic on Fremont Street

1952 Death Valley Trip, a car with doors and trunk open and a trailer attached, people sitting on folding chairs in a desolate setting

July 1969, The Apollo 11 Moon landing photographed from a television broacast

SFMemory, Out of Scope
I've been going through thousands of slides sent to me by @footage.bsky.social looking for local bay Area views. Here are some that I love that don't fit the criteria.

I'll still put them up. #sfmemory #foundphotography

Black and white photo of three men on a set of stairs. One is looking out over the flooded city. Another peers through binoculars. A third is sitting on the steps and looking a little miserable. This is a flood in 1948.

New acquisition to the flood collection: Ohio River, Evansville, IN. 1948 #photography #foundphotography #evansville #indianahistory alexgalt.com/portfolio/fl...

Floods, Various Selections from the A.M. Galt Collection of Flood Photography. (Click on first image for improved experience.)

I had an impulse to start a collection of vintage flood photography. I'll have to think about why, but I'm sure it's related to climate change.. #Photography #FoundPhotography

1. Untouched, 1920s
2. "McCrary & Branson Knoxville, Tenn". The portrait studio also produced racist caricature lithographs. 1880s
3. "Tranah, Photo", postcard, 1904-1918

#foundphotography #vintagephotography #vintageblacklife #africanamericanphotography #blackhistory

Camilo Cienfuegos and friends. 1959

Players on the Cuban baseball team, Cienfuegos, named for the city on Cuba's south coast. 1940

Back of photo 1, vertical taped tare

Cienfuegos (one hundred fires)

1. Cuban revolutionary Camilo Cienfuegos and friends. 1959

2. Players on the Cuban baseball team, Cienfuegos, named for the city on Cuba's south coast. 1940

3. Back of 1

#foundphotography #vintagephotography #camilocienfuegos #blackhistory

A door becomes is at first a barrier, and then it becomes a provocation, a symbol to break through and succeed.
#photography
#reddoor
#foundphotography
#blueskyart

Leaf Bird (found photography)
#photography
#naturephotography
#foundphotography
#naturephotography
#foundart
#blueskyart

#photography #foundphotography #foundphoto #vintagephotography #vintagephoto #oldphoto #africanamericanphotography #blackhistory

#photography #foundphotography #vintagephotography #africanamericanphotography #blackhistory

#photography #foundphotography #vintagephotography #africanamericanphotography #blackhistory

#photography #foundphotography #vintagephotography #africanamericanphotography #blackhistory

Antique photo of a toddler holding a cat and taking a ride in a toy wagon with huge metal wheels.

Baby and Kitty taking a ride.
#FoundPhotography
#vernacularphotography
#vintagephotography