Cursed Images: Pictures Out of Context

This exhibition features a recent gift of 20th-century vernacular photographs (everyday, amateur snapshots) from the Peter J. Cohen Collection, one of the largest privately held archives of anonymous photographs in the United States. It highlights photographs whose subjects or object relationships evoke a subtle, inexplicable unease. Although the term “cursed image” emerged in online forums around 2015, its uncanny sensibility resonates throughout these anonymous, context-less pictures. Their ambiguity invites lingering questions, prompting viewers to consider how vernacular photographs circulate and endure over time.