
As an avid collector of venacular photography – I covet my own “found snapshot” collection – and that of Erik Kessels who has appropriated and reassembled found photography collections from anonymous amateur photographers worldwide into touring exhibits. One collection entitled “Loving Your Pictures”, which the original makers did not intend as ‘works of art’, take on new meanings as they are exhibited in a new context by Kessels. I had the pleasure of seeing this work at the 2007 Recontres d’Arles Festival in Arles, France and writing a subsequent article on the topic of vernacular photography and my own personal experiences. May you, this commercial holiday – declare your love for, covet, keep or find photographs that you love and cherish til death do you part.