This book contains beautiful photographs spanning from 1890 to the present day, as well as three essays and an interview with the collector. The collection celebrates life, individuality, and the stories that are born from glimpsing into someone else's life.

Three essays interject the photographs, discussing the history of "amateur" photography, historical photography as an art form, the stories photographs told and the new stories they inspire in observers today. I enjoyed reading the essays as much as examining the photos, and thought the topics enhanced and evolved the way I considered them. The last chapter is an interview with the collector, Frank Maresca, and sheds light on what he sees artistically in the photos, and the process of how he has developed the collection.

"Snapshots are complicated. They are full of fact and fiction, life and loss, all that is unique and banal about our lives."