An amalgam of image-makers are represented; non-photographers who used photography; entrepreneurial picture-takers who commodified the photograph’s power as cherished memento; studio portraitists and commercial practitioners employed for their keen eye and technical proficiency; as well as visual artists who draw inspiration from vernacular imagery and media culture.
Since its inception, the Photograph has been used in an immense variety of ways; as artistic expression, scientific tool, commercial instrument, persuasive document and means of record-keeping. These photographic uses, among other practices and intentions such as obsession, surveillance, and advertising, will be explored through the heterogeneous collection on display. The show also examines the way in which our interpretations of vernacular photography are altered by time, dissemination and perspective. Blurring the lines of applied and fine arts, comparisons are drawn between an array of photographic objects that both employ stark contrasts from one another, and unusual similarities.