Lit is a collection of images that create a posthumous impression of a person based on the matchboxes he collected ... The goal of the exhibition is to give a visual cross-section of Joseph’s life.
Lit is a collection of images that create a posthumous impression of a person based on the matchboxes he collected. The project started when I unexpectedly came into possession of an amazing collection of 2,000+ vintage matchbooks and matchboxes dating from the early 1970s through the mid 2000s. The collection, which was housed in an expedition-sized suitcase, was generously given to me on a “Pay it Forward” Facebook group. The person who gave me the suitcase had retrieved it from a rubbish pile destined for council pickup, and had minimal information about the suitcase’s former owner. What she did know was that it was owned by a man called Joseph who passed away sometime in 2014-2015. While I had no inherent interest in collecting matchboxes, they struck me as a compelling photographic subject.
While many of the matchboxes are classic staples of Australian phillumeny (Redheads, for example) others provide intel about Joseph, enabling the creation of a retrospective picture of his predilections; his sense of humour, his preferred Sydney hangouts, and his overseas travels. The goal of the exhibition is to give a visual cross-section of Joseph’s life.
Lit is a collection of images that create a posthumous impression of a person based on the matchboxes he collected. The project started when I unexpectedly came into possession of an amazing collection of 2,000+ vintage matchbooks and matchboxes dating from the early 1970s through the mid 2000s. The collection, which was housed in an expedition-sized suitcase, was generously given to me on a “Pay it Forward” Facebook group. The person who gave me the suitcase had retrieved it from a rubbish pile destined for council pickup, and had minimal information about the suitcase’s former owner. What she did know was that it was owned by a man called Joseph who passed away sometime in 2014-2015. While I had no inherent interest in collecting matchboxes, they struck me as a compelling photographic subject.
While many of the matchboxes are classic staples of Australian phillumeny (Redheads, for example) others provide intel about Joseph, enabling the creation of a retrospective picture of his predilections; his sense of humour, his preferred Sydney hangouts, and his overseas travels. The goal of the exhibition is to give a visual cross-section of Joseph’s life.
