In a sense then, it’s a form of archaeology that lists the detritus of beauty, boredom, travel, companionship, innocence, youth, pride and participation. While there are no critically important pictures here they are nonetheless glorious in their dullness. Yet beyond the nostalgic pleasure drawn from these pre-digital images, Album Beauty achieves a certain gravitas through the glimpses it offers into the human condition. Kessels’ curatorial practice is one of constant carnival. There are also interactive albums to leaf through, life-size photo props that visitors can put their face into, and photographs printed on carpets that visitors walk over. Images are blown up to epic size and displayed as wallpaper, while others are shown in their original format.
Presented as an installation, the experience of Album Beauty is akin to walking through a physical photo album. “It’s extraordinary to think that photo albums have only been in existence for roughly one hundred years, and now they are virtually dead,” Kessels says. Comprising found and anonymous family photographs, it is the result of nearly 15 years spent rummaging through flea markets and second-hand stores across the globe. Currently on display at Les Rencontres d’Arles in France, it is an ode to the lost world of the photo album, that container of family history and personal narratives. There’s been no shortage of reflections on how we are living in a time when once-familiar objects are disappearing rapidly from our lives yet Kessels’ exhibition, Album Beauty, provides a thought-provoking meditation on the nature of obsolescence. The function of a photograph has shifted completely.”
We don’t even have them in albums any more. “We used to be the designers of our photo memories, not just someone who makes a slideshow on a computer. “Family or personal photographs are now taken to be shared with everybody whereas in the era of photo albums they used to be much more private.” So explains Dutch curator and editor Erik Kessels, otherwise known for his work at the legendary and unorthodox advertising agency, KesselsKramer.