Vernacular Photography
Everyday photographs made for practical or personal purposes rather than artistic ones — family albums, passport photos, evidence shots.
In depth
Vernacular images were not made to be looked at as photographs, which is why they are often the most revealing historical documents available: they record what people actually wore, drove and celebrated, without the mediation of an author's intent. Collectors and curators now treat them as a serious field.
Examples in practice
A box of anonymous 1950s holiday snapshots documents dress, cars and seaside architecture more honestly than any commission.