Ebay Trapdoor #001: "Vintage" Pictures
There is so much treasure to be found!
A few months ago, I started collecting pictures from an archive I found online — an old Scandinavian newspaper archive of physical prints and proofs. It started bringing me so much unexpected joy to spend hours at a time looking through it and thinking of new things to search for. Some feel so out of left field, some classically press photo-y, some that look like conceptual art from the ‘60s & ‘70s but look distinctly different than any photojournalism I’ve ever seen. Most also come with a small description of what it is…sometimes more info than you’d think. Like the name of the eagle this woman is holding below, is Sebastian.
Along the way, I’ve found some photos that feel pretty special, so I rephotographed them as objects.
It reminded me of other projects that either emulated the stark, clinical aesthetics of institutional catalogues or specifically call attention to the process of documentation.
For instance,
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