Lost & Found: Photographs from the DIA’s Collection

Subjects from everyday life, local architecture and portraits are included in this exhibition that presents found photography drawn from the DIA’s and private collections in the U.S. Found photography is considered by museums and collectors as an “accidental” art form created by unknown and often untrained photographers. Rediscovered and recovered from flea and antique markets, online resale sites, in attics, yard sales or even found in the trash, found photography speaks to past eras, people and place with a naïve or unintentionally artistic approach. Highlights from this exhibition include selections from the James Pearson Duffy collection of photographs – Duffy, a local collector and amateur photographer, made over 500 snapshots of Detroit taken in the early 1970s. 

Image: Untitled (Red and White Striped Storefront with Passersby), around 1970, attributed to Allen Stross, color transparency film. Detroit Institute of Arts