Take Your Pick at UMMA After Hours. Image: Scott Soderbergh, Michigan Photography.
One thousand amateur photographs, on loan from the private collection of Peter J. Cohen, are on display at the University of Michigan Museum of Art in a new interactive installation, Take Your Pick: Collecting Found Photographs.
As part of the exhibition, visitors are asked to vote for which photographs should be adopted into the Museum’s permanent collection—a decision usually made in by museum experts, without the direct input of broader museum patrons.
Cohen, who has gathered more than 60,000 snapshots from flea markets in the United States and Europe over two decades, will donate the top 250 vote-getters to the Museum.
From dogs and beach vacations to costumes and portraits, there’s something for everyone to rally behind in this eclectic collection of photographs.
This crowd-sourcing project is the first installation in the newly renamed ArtGym gallery, which is dedicated to imagining the campus museum of the future.
“Nearly everyone and everything shows up in these pictures, and they were created and treasured by all kinds of people, rich and poor, experts and amateurs alike,” said Jennifer Friess, Assistant Curator of Photography and lead on the Take Your Pick exhibition. “With that in mind, it seemed critical to us that the public consider and decide for themselves what’s worth keeping at UMMA.”
You can make your voice heard and cast your votes between now and Jan. 12, 2020. The final selection of the top 250 vote-getters will be on view through Feb. 23, 2020.
The top vote-getters during each week of Take Your Pick will be announced via the UMMA Instagram account. Follow @UMMAMuseum and the #IVotedAtUMMA tag to follow along.
Support for this exhibition is provided by Cecilia and Mark Vonderheide and the University of Michigan Office of the Provost and Department of Film, Television, and Media.