John Foster is a meticulous and savvy collector. "I do not buy in bulk," he says.
Over the years that he's been collecting personal photographs from garage sales, antique shops, and eBay -- including the last 10 to 12 years of hard-core buying -- he's assembled roughly 1,500 photographs that, to him, represent true found-art.
ARTKABINETT social network of fine art collectors knows that art treasures are not always found in museums.
Rare is the weekend he doesn't hit up a flea market or dusty old antiques store, locate a box of old photos, and rifle through them one by one, searching for the single, perfect shot.
"It's not of any particular period of time, it's not any particular type of photograph, it's not any particular style," he says. "It's all about the imageóhow does it transcend the ordinary?" The price of transcendence? As little as $10, or as much as $400ó"if you're buying from people who know what they are."
For decades, Foster and his wife, Teenuh (shown here) have also collected various forms of folk art for their St. Louis home, a passion that has informed his photo quest.
"When you look at the idea of enjoying art that's made by people without formal art education, you can easily make the jump to snapshots," he says. "Everyone takes photographs."
John and Teenuh Foster share a passionate interest in collecting works of art by self-taught artists, as well as anonymous objects that to them, share attributes of great design and mystery.
They consider vernacular photography to be a long overlooked genre of folk art, capturing elements of history, sociology, psychology and often ìaccidentalî moments on film.
John is a founder and past-president of ENVISION Folk Art of Missouri, where he also served as editor of the Journal that he produced for ten years.
John serves on the Board of Trustees for SPACES (Saving and Preserving Arts and Cultural Environments) which is based in Aptos, California. Additionally, John is a member of the Advisory Board of The Folk Art Society of America.
Collector's Statement
"As a longtime collector of folk art works and other objects whose makers have been unknown to me, I am deeply moved by the ability of these items to communicate across time and in different contexts than those in or for which they were originally created, meanings their makers may not have intended for them to convey.
For example, a sign produced 75 years ago, intended to simply give direction, today may suggest new meanings to viewers informed by postmodernist critical thinking.
It is a fascination with such perceived new meanings, reflecting a kind of magical power that certain objects have to reinvent themselves, that drives many collectors in many different fields.
When it comes to looking for photographs, like an archeologist, I search for abandoned images that may inspire me or excite my eye. It is possible that some visitors to this exhibition may not see what I have seen in the photographs on display.
These enigmatic images, whose attachments to specific times, places and families have become unglued over the years, take on a new life in a gallery or exhibition setting.
Traditionally, viewing snapshots has entailed the close-up, intimate handling of photo prints. As a way of inviting visitors to this exhibition to consider the photographs featured here not only as snapshots whose makers we may never know, but also as creative works in their own right, I have digitally enlarged several of them to help call attention to their inherent artistic qualities.
I have not used digital technology to alter these photographs in any way. In fact, according to my own rule, the act of adding or deleting anything to or from these found images, of doing anything that might be construed as an artistic intervention on my part that could affect their essence or authenticity, would be unacceptable. (Thus, the only instances have been the removal of obtrusive dust particles or surface scratches.)
The vernacular snapshots on view here are quite varied, from serious picture making attempts to candid, serendipitous moments.
They offer evidence of a tradition of picture-taking on special occasions or to document family members and friends that, in many cultures, is or has been mostly learned at home. Sometimes, it turns out, these photographs made casually, as personal souvenirs, may beremarkably artistic, too.
Usually made by amateur photographers whose training may have amounted to little more than point-and click, these images can sometimes turn out to be unaffected, accidental masterpieces.
Examined in new settings, outside family albums, wallets or keepsake frames, and from points of view other than those of the people who created them, these images can and often do take on new meanings that differ dramatically from those they were originally intended to convey."
Regarding the top of page photo: "A young boy with smeared with either mud or pancake makeup grins giddily for the camera."
"When I look for images, I look for something that makes you almost uncomfortable in your own skinósomething that makes you observe more intently," Foster says. "That's when I know I have something that's more than just a snapshot."
"This is almost like a still in a movie," Foster says of this blurred, sun-dappled image of a man running with a bicycle, shown here.
He estimates the photo dates to the late 1930s, and its ethereal qualities remind him of photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson and Andre Kertesz.
"I feel like either one of those two photographers would look at this and go, 'Ahh, yes.'"
In the photo above left, "You've got this very black car, almost like it's hearse or something, and then this woman looking at you with this sort of sad face, and she's very pale and white," he says. "I love that she's looking right at us."
The photo in the upper right seems plucked from a horror film. The man's silhouette and fogged-out face lend this image a "very scary, ominous quality," Foster says. "Rain is always associated with dreariness or sadness and mystery. In a movie when it's raining, it sets a certain tone. And what we want to see most of all -- his face -- is taken from us by the fog of his breath."
"This close-up photograph has an amazing surreal quality to it," Foster says. "I think of this image as a shot that the artist-photographer Man Ray might have taken, though in reality I suspect it could be a medical photograph of some sort from the 1930s."
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF JOHN FOSTER http://www.accidentalmysteries.com/
