American Snapshots by Steven M. Johnson

American Snapshots Copyright Š 2008 by Steven M. Johnson www.americansnapshots.info No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or by any information storage without permission in writing from the publisher, Steven M. Johnson.

Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Control Number: 2008901282 International Standard Book Number: 978-0-615-19095-2

Contents

I.

Introduction: An Open Letter

II. The Snapshots III. Thoughts on the Snapshots

With particular personal gratitude to John Brinckerhoff Jackson and Wright Morris – this book is dedicated to the spirit of their legacies.

This book also, and most especially, is dedicated to the men, women, and children in these photos, and to the photographers who made the snapshots.

They have cast a poignant and loving spell over me.

I am positive that that same love is available to the attentive reader.

Pensive and faltering The words the Dead I write, For living are the Dead, (Haply the only living, only real, And I the apparition, I the spectre.) — Walt Whitman

when past and future dissolve there is only you senseless as a lute upon the breast of God — Rumi Come, Beggars (excerpt)

I Introduction An Open Letter

II The Snapshots The snapshots are presented here as close to actual size as reasonably possible. No digital alteration or manipulation was made to any of the images in order to “clean them up,” beyond an occasional slight adjustment of contrast where it was thought that this would enhance the image’s readability on the printed page. Skewed color, stains, scratches, tears, and any other “defects” are considered to be an important part of the charm of the photo document, and have been preserved. Any inscriptions on the image’s front or back appear below the image

As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. — Psalm 103:15-16

You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. — James 4:14

1. Front: “APR 57” Back: “Margaret Kenneth”

2. “Dorthy & Tom Christian”

3. [none]

4. “May 16, 1912”

5. [none]

To see the rest of this book, order from:

Steven M. Johnson 316.283.9793 720 SE Sixth St Newton, KS 67114‐4518