Snapshots: The Photography of Everyday Life, 1888 to the Present

George Eastman’s introduction of the Kodak #1 in 1888 put over a million cameras into the hands of the public within ten years. This simple box camera gave the average person an unprecedented opportunity to capture the ordinary — and sometimes extraordinary — objects and rituals of everyday life, an impulse that has since become virtually commonplace. Published in conjunction with the first museum exhibition to address this vital and engaging aspect of modern photographic practice, this volume is at once a serious examination of the snapshot as a cultural artifact and a visually delightful collection of some outstanding examples of the form. These images illustrate — both by what they capture and by what they exclude — the choices we make in documenting our private histories and show us how we are all curators in the exhibitions that are our lives.