as if i didn't have enough blogs and merde flying around, i put up another blog of "VERNACULAR PHOTOGRAPHY" [as i found it was called] meaning= old found photos; i discovered that 'name' in some magazine i saw in the doctor's office.
i've been collecting old photos & negatives for years; starting with my family's. i got my mom and dad's, grandmother's, and several aunt's collections. i began buying them in thrift stores as well. i've been buying up all the old slides i can find in European thrift stores [it amazes me that family's would throw them out!] and i have huge boxes full- literally thousands of slides- in switzerland. i scanned a lot over the years and saved them [at hi-resolution, in case i decided to print any] to my computer, so decided to begin showing some online in lower resolution.
i also collect old cameras- and have sometimes found unfinished rolls of film in them. i had some of the film processed at wally-world, but after finding some semi risque stuff, was a bit afraid of what MIGHT be on there; you never know! so, i hand process any b&w, now! but i have several rolls of color 620 film i found in cameras that need to be sent off. i've also bought negatives in junk stores, which i scan.
on the new blog, i am mixing the format: images from slides, fotos, negatives, polaroids etc which i have found or bought. i really find them fascinating. i've even considered editing [cleaning up, possibly grey scaling] some of them and exhibiting them. the slides/Polaroids- ARE the originals, and therefore the 'negative'- and since i bought them, i own them, and therefore the copyrights. SO an exhibit/and possible sale of some of them is possible in the future.
as said, i own thousands of vintage slides. i plan to eventually donate them to the fotomuseum in winterthur, switzerland- since the majority of the stuff is swiss, shot by swiss... and needs to stay in switzerland, where future generations of swiss [and foreign visitors to the museum] can enjoy them.
i would also have the peace of mind of knowing they would be cared for.
[c]2008 doug duffey
