The Marked On and Altered Photograph

(Above) Retouched press photo, c. 1920s. Click on image for larger view.

(Above) Penciled in eyebrows, painted lips by Ethel. c.1920s. Click on image for larger view.


(Above) Retouched press photo, c. 1940s. Click on image for larger view.

(Above) What do you do when the faces don’t turn out? Draw them in with a pen. c. 1930s. Click on image for larger view.

(Above) I call this image my “Cy Twombly Snapshot.” Click on image for larger view.



THESE IMAGES, FROM MY COLLECTION OF SNAPSHOTS, WERE SELECTED because they have all been altered by the human hand, in one way or the other. The image just above, the one I call “Cy Twombly” was altered on the negative, hence the white lines. It’s one of the more unusual, abstract images in the Accidental Mysteries collection.

Press photos that have been retouched (like images number 1 and 3 above) and readied for print is a lost art. With the digital age—you won’t see images like these anymore. Re-examined and re-contextualized by our eyes today, they look a bit like contemporary art. Word and image, it’s all the rage!

And you’ve got to love the 4th image, the one of the group of people. Early photoshop!

- - -Sewing- -Snapshots- -With- -Thread- - -

Click any image for larger view... you’ll definitely want to!



Click any image for larger view






Click any image for larger view





MANY OF YOU KNOW THAT I COLLECT SNAPSHOTS. I have seen snapshots that have been cut and glued to other surfaces, snapshots that have been painted and altered, transferred to other surfaces, and held pristine as objects—but never sewed on. My friend Robert Jackson, a collector of snapshots, told me about the work of Jane Deschner. Jane’s work is a powerful blend of word and image, and from my vantage point within this field, unique.

Learn more about Jane Deschner’s work here.

Artist Statement:
“For over twenty-five years, I have utilized found photographic images in my artmaking—found on magazine pages, they were the material of cut-and-paste photomontages. During graduate school, I became fascinated with vernacular photography, especially in its most ubiquitous (and human) form, the snapshot. Since 2001, I have collected, studied and altered early- to mid- twentieth century snapshots and studio portraits, press and movie photographs—worked to uncover what this rich repository can teach about our essential humanity. I’ve created over a dozen series, more than five hundred artworks. When we look at snapshots that are two, three and four generations old, what is immediately obvious is what has changed. But, when we look into them—we discover what has remained constant. We are reminded of how we are to one another.”

“I’m aging and my maternal side wants to pass on what I’ve learned. I want to moralize about accountability, acceptance, love, honesty, compassion, integrity, authenticity, gratitude and generosity. I appropriate and integrate the found photographs of strangers with the embroidered words of the famous.”

“Sewing binds photographs together; embroidery inscribes a quote. Stitching by hand into these photos both destroys and mends. I puncture and suture, wound and heal, simultaneously. It is an intimate activity, meditative and, sometimes, physically painful because of the tedium of the activity and the osteoarthritis in my thumb joints. I connect with generations before me.”

“Creating garments from stitched-together snapshots, “wearable-photo-albums,” is a recent direction. I craft a narrative in the snapshots I choose, sometimes enhanced by an embroidered quote or image. The garment is a metaphor for ways we identify ourselves, as we do in the photographs we choose to take. Our photos, our clothes—what we shed when we pass on.”

“We all snap photos of people and things we love and times we want to remember. In a studio, we hire a professional to immortalize us looking our best. When I alter a photograph’s original intent and appearance, the viewer is invited to deduce, speculate and fantasize. There are many ways to appreciate ourselves in the common photograph—even those of people, places and times we never knew.”

Photobooth Images By a Self-Taught Artist

(Above) Lee Godie (1908 - 1995), a homeless artist in Chicago, photographed on Michigan Avenue with some of her rolled up paintings. Photo © Steve Kagan
(Above) “Lee Godie-This is a Kid’s Pose,” 4 x 5” photobooth image (titled on verso)
(Above) “Lee-A Girl With Roses” 4 x 5” photobooth image (titled on verso)
(Above) “Lee In a Camera,” 4 x 5” photobooth image
(Above) “Lee as an Artist,” 4 x 5” photobooth image
(Above) “Lee with a Paper,” 4 x 5” photobooth image
(Above) “Lee,” 4 x 5” photobooth image

I NEVER HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO MEET LEE GODIE. She passed away in 1995, not so long ago, really. Even if you were from her hometown of Chicago, I have heard that finding Lee Godie was never easy. She was homeless, and though she often sold her paintings on the steps of the Chicago Art Institute, on North Michigan Avenue or Water Tower Park, you could never be sure what day she’d be there. And then, assuming you spotted her, there was no guarantee she would even talk to you, much less sell you an artwork. There were rumors she didn’t like fair-haired people. And for whatever reason, if she didn’t like you, or your approach to her was not to her liking, there was no amount of money you could offer her to get her to sell you a painting. You were just out of luck. NO SOUP FOR YOU!

She did, however, really like Chicago art dealer Carl Hammer. She often stopped by his art gallery, and they had a special relationship of mutual respect. He was one of the first art dealers to carry and sell her artwork.

Besides being a painter, she also used the photo booth machine at the Trailway’s Bus Station as part of her art making process. Without question, she was creating photographically altered self-portraits before the famous contemporary photographer Cindy Sherman was doing it. Ms. Godie would actually rub paint or other substances on her face to darken it before she stepped into the photo booth. She would wear various costumes to change her identity. And, she was definitely aware of the “totality” of the image when stepped into the photo-making booth. For example, when she chose the “four small images” instead of the one “large” image—it was a conscious decision. You can see that in the the photo above entitled “Lee in a Camera.” There, Godie had to quickly remove herself from the booth between “takes” so that she would have blank spaces in which to write. Check it out. That was an aesthetic decision. After the image was developed, she would often enhance the features of her face with red paint or ball point pen.

Godie’s photographs are rare, and most, if not all, are in private collections.

Intuit, the Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art in Chicago recently held an exhibition of over 100 pieces of Lee Godie’s work, and was entitled “Finding Beauty: The Art of Lee Godie” (September 12, 2008 - January 3, 2009). This superb show was co- curated by Jessica Moss and David Syrek (who designed the catalog) that’s available for $10. You can read more about Lee Godie here. If you are a fan of self-taught art, joining Intuit is a must— and you get a subscription to their magazine, The Outsider. Check it out!