Donate

Play Live Radio

Next Up:

0:00

0:00 0:00

Available On Air Stations

SC Public Radio's statewide network is experiencing intermittent outages and programming issues due to ongoing infrastructure upgrades. Our team is working to keep these disruptions to a minimum and to resolve issues that do arise. During broadcast outages, streaming on this site, the SCETV App, the NPR App, and smart speakers will remain unaffected.

Snapshots Make Way To Fine Art Museum

NPR

Published July 20, 2015 at 1:52 PM EDT

Unidentified photographer, American, about 1950s. The gelatin silver print is part of the collection Unfinished Stories: Snapshots from the Peter J. Cohen Collection at the MFA. (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)

Some of us have dusty boxes filled with fading family snap shots. Sift through and there’s a chance you’ll find pictures of strangers. Mystery photos can be amusing and perplexing.

Collector Peter Cohen has rescued 50,000 “found” vintage photographs, and now about 300 are on display at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Andrea Shea of Here & Now contributor WBUR reports on Cohen’s quest to secure the snapshot’s place in history.

Reporter

Andrea Shea, arts reporter for WBUR. She tweets @asheaarts.