Saturday, September 13, 2008

The Roz Leibowitz Collection: Snapshot Disasters



Anon.
dog
[Snapshot Disasters]
1955

Gelatin silver print, snapshot
3 x 5 in

Private collection of Roz Leibowitz

LL/30869

Soon after I put up the recent exhibition on Abstract: Multiple exposures - Snapshots on August 22, 2008 I received an enthusiastic email from Roz Leibowitz of New York with the generous offer of some additional images. In a flurry of emails I learnt that Roz is passionate about the snapshot and so we decided to do an online exhibition on Snapshot Disasters and her CD arrived through yesterday. We are entering a weird world here as Roz explains in her introduction:

"First it was the light flashes, which I still believe are a sign of other worlds making their presence known on this plane. Then it was the hidden writing on the back or even the front of the photos. Such a perfect matching of text and image still takes my breath away. Then I noticed the multiple exposures. ‘She clicked it twice!‘ a woman named Nell screams from the back of a snapshot I call ‘whole lotta shaken going on‘. That’s the rational explanation. And professionals can tell me where all these lights and orbs and lines and streaks come from. I do not care. Nell knew what I know, that the snapshot disaster is often the one we remember and save for others to share."

It takes a collector with a different view of the world to preserve these visual oddities and thanks to Roz for sharing items from her collection. With the help of collectors around the world we are able to share themes in the ever-evolving history of photography that have rarely been seen. I know I keep saying it but thanks to you all for your support.

There is an online exhibition on Luminous-Lint.

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