This found photo is an excellent example of early vernacular color photography. The atmospheric blues, the white hot reflection off the red car's chrome, the angle of the woman and the shimmering people in the background, make for a captivating and mysterious composition. The image brings to mind the work of contemporary photographer Joel Meyerowitz. In an email dialogue with Michael Abrams, author of Strange and Singular (a must have for your photo library), he suggested the following caption for the photo: "Garry Winogrand's mom waits patiently as her son snaps away."

There seems to be an increased interest in early color photography. The current issue of Aperture magazine features an article by Martin Parr entitled: "Colour Before Colour (was also an exhibition at the Hasted Hunt Gallery in 2007)" in which he addresses great color pictures being made in the 1940s.  A Century of Colour Photography From the autochrome to the digital age by Pamela Roberts is an excellent new book on the history of color photography and even addresses amateur and vernacular color photography. Cheryl Ohland, who sells weekly on ebay, says she has seen a dramatic increase in interest in her color snapshot auctions. Some of her closing prices for vernacular 1960s color snapshots have gone as high as $150. According to Ohland, "color snapshots seem to be snapped (no pun intended) up by more long time collectors and those collectors seem to have a more advanced/ artistic eye and feel color is the next step up."

To meet the growing demand for excellent color snapshots project b now has a color category in its vintage photographs section -- check out all the great color snaps!

Q: Why are some snapshots considered art?

A: I get asked this question all the time and there is no one right answer. For me, the photo above "Sand Dune, 1962" is art because it transcends the purpose for which it was made and as a composition it is surprising, captivating, and unique. Since beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I decided to put this question also to long time and very knowledgeable vernacular photo collectors, Roger Arvid and Robert Jackson.

For Roger, there are two criteria for evaluating if a vernacular photo is art: "1) as an arrangements of objects, when the composition meets certain geometric criteria that may be regarded as beautiful or compelling; 2) in regards to subject when the historical is more than just cognitive, but is superseded by a level of universal empathy that leads the imagination to construct a fictive story that is inclusive of the viewers feelings and emotional attachments as stirred by the elements or people in the photograph."

According to Robert Jackson (whose collection is the subject of the National Gallery's exhibition and publication, The Art of The American Snapshot, 1888-1978), considering the snapshot as art involves "distancing oneself from the social aspects of the photo—from not “reading” the photo to divine its narrative story both personal and within a social milieu, but looking at it instead with a formalist eye to its composition, aesthetic sensibility and achievement."

Submit your questions or comments to blevine@projectb.com

Recently I've seen contemporary lenticular versions of vintage photos. The Getty Museum, for example, sells a super cool lenticular postcard of a Muybridge Animals in Motion Study photograph. If you are not familiar with the term 'lenticular' think of those thick plastic colorful 3D-like postcards (often with nature or religious scenes). Above is an example, c.1920 of a photograph made into a lenticular novelty item.  When you look at the image from different angles the woman's eyes and mouth open and close.

The lenticular process was introduced by a French painter, G. A. Bois-Clair, in 1692. Generally speaking, his idea was to divide two or more pictures into "stripes" and align them behind a series of vertically aligned "opaque bars" of the same frequency (the photo above for example has a piece of striped paper behind it).  As a viewer walked by his paintings, they would appear to change from one picture to another. In 1896, the technique was applied to photography and the Vari Vue company (famous for its 1950s flicker rings and hypnotic discs) now makes software so you too can make lenticular 3D photographs. Visit  the curiosities section of project b to see more examples of vintage lenticular photographs including the Photochange Post Card, patented in 1906.