For this issue of Snapshot, I invited Bernard Yenelouis, artist, snapshot collector, educator at the International Center of Photography and writer of the photography blog, One Way Street, to write about the above found photo entitled Remember Me.

This photograph beguiles me. It alludes to what I perceive as a wish factor to photography - to see what you desire, embodied. The photo, without being explicit, alludes to the preservation or veneration of a soldier, which follows that there is a conflict or war at hand and loss, temporary or permanent. Also, the hand is the hand of the photographer. The hand, the eye, & the camera act in synchronicity: As a photograph of a photograph a very direct relationship is represented between the photographer and the initial photograph. The exactness of its circumstances is not available to us, but otherwise the action of holding the photograph, as surrogate for the person in the photograph, & the photograph of that, allude to all as a vessel for very strong emotions. Also, the inexactness of the image, that there is blur, exposure "issues" and such which make the image downright abstract indicate that the image is more performative than iconic: it is a very unselfconscious action, an image of a relation between the photograph (in the photograph) and the photographer. The abstraction of the image amplifies a kind of existential sense of the tenuousness of memories and relations, a kind of ground zero of emotions, which indicates perhaps a truly great loss.

There are numerous snapshots of soldiers, on leave or leaving, as souvenirs. For many the military has been a rite of passage, and noted as such, along with graduations, marriages, and births. One could follow a thread of the conventionality of such images, which can be beautiful in the way that commemorative images can be - full of meaning and purpose. This image is related to such practices but its abstraction breaks with any social conventions and opens up a much more emotional dynamic. I am reminded of a series of recent photographs by Fazal Sheikh which were published in 1997 in The Victor Weeps, which were taken in Afghani refugee camps, of hands holding small photographs of lost family members, attached with a few sentences concerning those in the photographs. How curious, with this abject, overexposed, anonymous photograph, we see a similar expressiveness and emotional dignity, in what is probably our own backyard.

For the complete article and more photographs, view the exhibition, Remember Me / Memory Snapshots

Q: How are the prices of snapshots determined - why do they vary so much?

A: Like many questions about snapshots the answer varies depending on who you ask and current collecting trends. Standard criteria sellers use to determine price include rarity of subject, historical significance and condition. There are many reasons snapshot prices fluctuate so much including that education such as books and exhibitions on the topic are a recent phenomena, supply still outweighs demand and, there have been no high profile auctions to establish values beyond prices set by dealers and active buyers on ebay.

I asked Stacy Waldman, a well respected dealer of photographs and ephemera both on eBay (houseofmirth) and at antique and paper shows, to share her views on snapshot prices and the impact of recent vernacular publications on buyers. According to Waldman, "The one photo that has skyrocketed is the photobooth/photomatic, which I really attribute to Nakki Goranin's book,  American Photobooth . There are several new buyers in this area. For snapshots, when I determine a price, it's based on what I've sold something like that in the past for, or just a feeling on what I think it is worth. I do have to say that snapshots can be a tough sell at a show. I do sell either very expensive ones or dollar snaps, but a lot of people will pick up a snapshot and say 'You want $10 for this?'  Recently, on ebay I sold a snapshot of someone in a Halloween costume of a Skeleton for over $250 while another snapshot with a masked creature sold for just $20. Personally, I think the second photo is more interesting than the first one, and if I had the two at a show, I would have priced the masked photo for more than the skeleton. Thus is the power of ebay - you never know what is going to happen."

Submit your questions or comments to blevine@projectb.com

Soon after the invention of photography, people began to hand alter their photographs. At first photographers made notes on glass plates and negatives that would appear on their images. As photography grew in popularity, there were hobby activities such as hand tinting and cutting photos into attractive shapes. When Kodak invented the Autographic camera in 1914, amateurs were encouraged to use the camera's supplied stylus to write notes on the edge of the film's paper backing. Autographic advertisements stated that the intention was for the notes to appear in the margins however "they may be shown on the print itself-if desired."

Along with these widely known practices, snap shooters also routinely and fearlessly, with pen in hand, wrote directly on their snapshots. Names, dates, stories and witticisms written on borders or across the image, along with arrows, numbers, cartoonish circles drawn around eyes, and faces scribbled out, are a few examples of the ways people ensured their snapshots expressed personal sentiments and stories. The personalizing tradition continues today as can be witnessed by the popularity of image alteration programs such as Photoshop. But then, unlike today, there was no effort to conceal the embellishments people made to their photographs. Crudely personalized and written on vintage snapshots are often funny, surprising and oddly endearing. To view snapshots that have been marked on visit the gallery exhibition, See This: Altered Snapshots.