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  • Blue-toned vintage snapshot of five smiling young light-skinned women. They are in the middle of a field, and only their heads and shoulders are visible. White houses rise behind them.

Unknown Maker, American

Untitled

Maker

Unknown Maker, American

Culture

American

Title

Untitled

Year

ca. 1890s

Medium

  • Cyanotype

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Cyanotype

Dimensions

Image: 5.6 x 8.1 cm (2 3/16 x 3 3/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Inscribed, recto, UL, graphite, "35"

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Peter J. Cohen in honor of Luke Cohen, RISD BFA 1971, BArch 1972, Architecture

Object Number

2015.91.33

Type

  • Photographs

Publications

  • Journal

Manual / Issue 16: Intimacy

RISD Museum’s Manual 16 Embraces Intimacy

Intimacy reveals something deeply human in us. We need each other on a practical level, which means having to trust strangers. It’s analogous to what I understand prayer requires and what writing poems requires: an openness to the unknown, coupled with trust, a belief that we won’t be hurt. It’s at once akin to and the same as devotion.
-Carl Phillips

The RISD Museum’s sixteenth issue of Manual touches on the bonds of intimacy and its many expressions. This issue complements the exhibition Any distance between us, co-curated by Stephen Truax and Dominic Molon, on view at the RISD Museum through March 13, 2022.

Exhibition History

Collective Recollection
Jul 27, 2018 – Jan 20, 2019

Label copy

Over the last few decades, snapshots and other everyday photographs have been collected and exhibited with serious interest. These images, celebrated for their fresh, “real” insights into specific times and places, offer what can be critical historical information. However, the act of bringing snapshots into a museum context divorces them from their original use and personal value as private objects-objects that were circulated and cherished. Their arrangement here gives some sense of a traditional photo-album display, but the thematic groups point to layers of collecting interest and curatorial selection.

Peter J. Cohen scoured flea markets, garage sales, and shops for years, amassing a collection of about 50,000 snapshots. Distinctive categories have helped him focus his selections, including At Play, Kids, Picnics, and Women Organized Neatly. Cohen has generously donated his snapshots to museums, inviting curators to make selections from his collection.

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Unknown Maker, American
Untitled, ca. 1890s
Cyanotype
Image: 5.6 x 8.1 cm (2 3/16 x 3 3/16 inches)
Gift of Peter J. Cohen in honor of Luke Cohen, RISD BFA 1971, BArch 1972, Architecture 2015.91.33

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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