Talking Pictures. Images and Messages Rescued from the Past

An amazing collection of "talking pictures," or vintage photographs with messages written on them. The photos & captions are a mixture of funny, quirky, bittersweet, and heart-wrenching. Perfect for anyone who loves old pictures (like me!).

He's a collector of vernacular photos from flea markets, like me, and I first became aware of him through some stories on the Mental Floss website. He's even written a fantasy book sort of based on some of those photos, which I didn't like very much. Anyway, one of his essays was about photos with writing on the back that makes an otherwise unmemorable pictures suddenly meaningful. Like a road in Texas, and when you turn it over it says "This is the spot where Daddy had his accident and died." This book is a collection of such pictures, found by him and by other collectors. It's great. Lots of them are mundane with messages of love or things like that, and most are charming just because they're old. Then there are things like a series show more of photos taken at Dachau. A picture of some cages turns out to say, on the back, that these were kennels for dogs that were used to chase and attack prisoners. show less

BIG HUGE fan of Riggs and the entire idea of collecting old photos. I have purchased many of them myself, but would never have thought to do what he has done with them. I enjoyed this book so much and bought a copy for my sister as well.

Old photos are so haunting and Riggs gives us the tiny bit of personal background that is contained on the back sides of these. Sometimes that transforms what would seem like a very bland photo into something quite interesting and extraordinary. Can't see how anyone would fail to love this.

Sorry to be so late in writing my review. If you do not know Riggs, please give him a chance. His [b:Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children|9460487|Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (Miss show more Peregrine’s Peculiar Children, #1)|Ransom Riggs|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1391229642s/9460487.jpg|14345371] series is amazing. show less

I love that Ransom Riggs collected photos ALL his life to compile a book like this. How amazing to delve into the life of someone else through a picture and a simple statement written on the back? Who knew that people discarded these photos so easily at garage sales!? His collection is excellent and I will be opening this book over and over just making up my own stories from those pictures. If anyone needs inspiration for fictional stories, this would be the perfect place to find it.

Photography has changed so much, just recently too... I find that printed pictures will be a thing of the past very soon. Hopefully the photos that are still around are as cherished by others as Riggs has made them. Love this, just love it!

Ransom Riggs collects photos that he finds at estate sales. The only photos he collects are ones that have writing on them. The writing may be on the back, or it may be on the front; it may even be a part of the photo.

His inspiration was one of the first photos he purchased. He decided to move his photos from frames to proper albums. When he tried to move this particular photo he found this written on the back "Dorothy, Chicago, age 15, Died of Leukemia".

This book highlights some of his favorite photos. Some are haunting; such as the one that depicts a warning sign for a stop ahead. The writing on the back of the photo indicates "Rock wall near Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California where Dorothy found a baby girl on Jan 24,1961".

Who was show more Dorothy? Who was the baby she found? Did she raise the baby? Why was the baby there? show less

I'd give this book more stars if I could, . I am a huge fan of collecting the pieces of our pasts, most especially photos and letters (diaries etc) and I love a little mystery. Riggs pulled together some intriguing and very touching photos, each one pulls at our imaginations and our hearts, each one bringing our quirks and emotions in to focus. Wow. I love this guy. His novel was also excellent and I eagerly await the next one as well.

This book is a photo album with vague descriptions. The feeling of nostalgia and melancholy that it left within me is immeasurable; it was painfully beautiful.