From the Dust Jacket Flap
This book is a fascinating personal look
at old snapshot photographs the author has
found for sale in shops throughout the United
States. The fact that the people are captured
on film by amateur photographers
(presumably family members or friends) in
informal settings is responsible for the charm
of the natural and unselfconscious snapshot.
Indeed, it is the very fact that these images
were made by people close to the subjects
that creates a golden window into their
unguarded lives, their faces, and their body
language. This, in turn, allows for an unusual
opportunity to speculate on the culture and
character of people otherwise lost to time
and even to their own families. (How and
why, after all, did the snapshots end up for
sale?) This book takes a stand on behalf of
these anonymous American photographers
and the lost personages captured on film in
their slice of time, thus establishing direct
connection to the larger family of all
Americans and even all humanity.
The author's impassioned and moving
introductory essay is written as a loving and
yet (in the spirit of the snapshots themselves)
open letter to his long-deceased mother.
This powerful heuristic device – reaching
beyond his grasp – acts to unite the lives of
the deceased with the living in a personal and
touching manner. The photographs contained
in the album section then act to weave
together one great human family of parents,
children, and siblings, with different
geographic circumstances.
The central thesis developed in this
essay of words and photographs is that the
family of man – and by extension, all of life –
is timeless indeed when viewed with love's
encompassing devotion and assisted by the
magic of photography. We are all connected
in the cycles of life and death. This is an
open book in more ways than one.
This book is a fascinating personal look
at old snapshot photographs the author has
found for sale in shops throughout the United
States. The fact that the people are captured
on film by amateur photographers
(presumably family members or friends) in
informal settings is responsible for the charm
of the natural and unselfconscious snapshot.
Indeed, it is the very fact that these images
were made by people close to the subjects
that creates a golden window into their
unguarded lives, their faces, and their body
language. This, in turn, allows for an unusual
opportunity to speculate on the culture and
character of people otherwise lost to time
and even to their own families. (How and
why, after all, did the snapshots end up for
sale?) This book takes a stand on behalf of
these anonymous American photographers
and the lost personages captured on film in
their slice of time, thus establishing direct
connection to the larger family of all
Americans and even all humanity.
The author's impassioned and moving
introductory essay is written as a loving and
yet (in the spirit of the snapshots themselves)
open letter to his long-deceased mother.
This powerful heuristic device – reaching
beyond his grasp – acts to unite the lives of
the deceased with the living in a personal and
touching manner. The photographs contained
in the album section then act to weave
together one great human family of parents,
children, and siblings, with different
geographic circumstances.
The central thesis developed in this
essay of words and photographs is that the
family of man – and by extension, all of life –
is timeless indeed when viewed with love's
encompassing devotion and assisted by the
magic of photography. We are all connected
in the cycles of life and death. This is an
open book in more ways than one.
The Book's Organization
American Snapshots is organized into
three sections. Part I is an introduction
written in the form of an open letter to my
deceased mother which introduces some key
anthropological and spiritual concepts in an
effort to create a lens, or a variety of lens',
through which the reader might look at the
vernacular photographs in the following
section. Viewed thus, the reader's careful
examination of each image might be
considered a type of communion with the
people of the photograph - people lost to
their own families.
Part II is a collection of 101 snapshots
sequentially numbered and presented one to
a page. The photographs are reproduced at
actual size and in full color, whether the
original is a black & white or color print. No
effort was made to "clean-up" the images
digitally or in any other way. It is my belief
that the fading, stains, tears, scrapes, and
creases actually add to the charm of the
artifact. In other words, every effort has
been made to present the snapshots in the
actual condition that they were found.
Part III is comprised of my personal
impressions and observations on the
individual snapshots, keyed numerically to
the images in the previous section. These are
my personal musings and I encourage every
reader to immerse themselves in the study of
each image, creating their own set of
observations and subjective impressions.
Sublime empathy is the process through
which one makes the strongest emotional
connection to each image, and that is where
the magic lies.
American Snapshots is organized into
three sections. Part I is an introduction
written in the form of an open letter to my
deceased mother which introduces some key
anthropological and spiritual concepts in an
effort to create a lens, or a variety of lens',
through which the reader might look at the
vernacular photographs in the following
section. Viewed thus, the reader's careful
examination of each image might be
considered a type of communion with the
people of the photograph - people lost to
their own families.
Part II is a collection of 101 snapshots
sequentially numbered and presented one to
a page. The photographs are reproduced at
actual size and in full color, whether the
original is a black & white or color print. No
effort was made to "clean-up" the images
digitally or in any other way. It is my belief
that the fading, stains, tears, scrapes, and
creases actually add to the charm of the
artifact. In other words, every effort has
been made to present the snapshots in the
actual condition that they were found.
Part III is comprised of my personal
impressions and observations on the
individual snapshots, keyed numerically to
the images in the previous section. These are
my personal musings and I encourage every
reader to immerse themselves in the study of
each image, creating their own set of
observations and subjective impressions.
Sublime empathy is the process through
which one makes the strongest emotional
connection to each image, and that is where
the magic lies.
| This site and its contents are © 2010 Steven M. Johnson. All rights reserved. |
American Snapshots
Front Cover
Back Cover
Product Information
- Limited First Edition: 1,000 copies.
- Hardcover (case bound) with Smyth Sewn pages
and dust jacket. - 144 pages.
- Illustrations: 103 photographs reproduced in full color.
- Retail Price: $25.00 + s/h. Go to Purchase page,
above, for details. - Publisher: Steven M. Johnson; May 26, 2008.
- ISBN: 978-0-615-19095-2
- Dimensions: 10.25 x 8 x 0.75 inches.
- Weight: 1.75 lbs.
Click on image to enlarge.
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |