Never eat Oreo cookie popcorn...

The thing I love about modern art museums is how the plethora of obscure and vivid works of art from across the world can transform the life of an inconspicuous building. Take the Tate Modern for example. Having been an old factory, it was transformed from a place made for  monotonous construction into a place for reflection and eye opening experiences. The MOMA, Museum of Modern Art, in New York City is no different. From the outside, it looks like a banal office block that joins all the other towering buildings of NYC that stand to attention like obedient soldiers. Looking down the street, it feels like the buildings follow the curvature of the earth; they go on for so long.

My preferred section of the museum was, of course, the photography gallery. It offered a wonderful collection of photographers work with no definitive theme in mind. The photos in the gallery themselves range from the early 1900's to the early 80's, providing a satisfyingly interwoven voyeuristic view into cultures and society through the decades.

One particular part of the gallery that I adored was the unknown photos; photos lost or unclaimed joined together through an owner's carelessness or misplacement by a loved one. Unattached through a death or absentmindedness, perhaps.

But the unknown photos, dating in this section mostly from around the 30's and 50's, all gave a window into a moment in the photographers life, the subjects of the photos endearingly immortalized in joy, tribulation and fond love. While the other photos in the gallery gave the viewer a look into a particular world they wouldn't otherwise see, these photos were different. The characters in the pictures had some connection to the photographer which gave them an air of personal attachment and affection that was easy to relate to. We've all been behind the camera with a want to capture a special memory to be able to look on in years to come. A photo of family, friends, lovers. Each of these photos had a beautiful nostalgic characteristic. The now vintage fashion, culture, the fact it's printed in black and white film ( a favourite of mine!) gives them a time capsule feel to the fact that even though they were taken over 50 years ago, people could still enjoy them now. Lost photos finding a new found appreciation.

I have always taken to appreciating street photography and these photos, in a way, followed that line. They still have a story behind them but perhaps in these photos it was more obvious to who the people were, or their background.  The fact that these photos can give a personal connection to the viewer is what I loved about them. A comedic line up of friends or family reminded me of my Dad lining up with his brothers and sisters which had become somewhat a sibling tradition whenever they were together captured of course in photos throughout the years. A group of friends captured laughing uncontrollably over a clumsy fall or an in-joke gave me flashes of memories with my friends and the times I've had with them where I've laughed till my ribs hurt, or being amongst them and feeling right at home with them.

Although these photos are all from a little way back in the past, each one could easily transpire in modern times. The time we live in moves fast and sometimes we can loose track of what is important amidst the want for technology and other materialistic commodities that fill our lives. Fashion, society and cultures may have changed dramatically but the way friends and families work hasn't. That's why photos like these are important, so that they can symbolise what has been or is part of ourselves and what we will look back fondly on as nothing else, really will suffice.

*Apologies for the quality of my pictures of the photos. My iPod camera doesn't quite do them justice.