We’ve all seen, at yard sales and flea markets, dusty shoeboxes of old family photos. Unknown, unidentifiable faces peer at us, people about whose lives we haven’t a clue. For this thought-provoking exhibition at the Block Museum, vernacular snapshots by nameless photographers are rendered artifacts cleverly paired with pieces of art from the Block’s collection. The snapshots are part of the collection as well, from a 223-image gift of Peter J. Cohen, a New York collector of vernacular photography. The show was curated by Madison Brown, a 2023-24 Block interdisciplinary fellow, in consultation with Academic Curator Corinne Granof.

Like a detective, Brown has put the pieces together, creating stories, unraveling the mystery of images by cleverly pairing series of seemingly idyllic family photos with art that hints at deeper undercurrents. For example, an image from photographer Donna Ferrato’s ten-year series “Living with the Enemy” shows a mother and two children who have been forced to live in a women’s shelter to escape domestic violence. Brown has placed three small snapshots of “happy families” in a row beneath this larger image. Ferrato’s photograph is made all the more poignant as the children hold a family photo they brought with them from their home when they left.

In an etching titled “Soldier and Bride,” by Czech artist Jiri Anderle, a bride and groom stand side by side, the groom/soldier marked as if by war, with what appears to be a bullet hole in his forehead, and scratchy, dripping marks across his nude body, as if to imply disfigurement or death. In the lower right corner is a lovely vintage photograph of a soldier groom in uniform with his elegant bride. In LaToya Ruby Frazier’s image, “Zion Holding a Picture of Her Mother Shea Sipping Water from Her Freshwater Spring at Age Thirteen in 1997, Jasper County, Newton, Mississippi,” two dark hands hold a small photograph of a girl bending to drink from a fresh stream. The image tells the story of Frazier’s mother before she moved to Flint Michigan, where the public health crisis of polluted water occurred. A documentary photographer, Frazier captured the impact of the crisis on the residents of Flint. Brown has paired this image with several snapshots of people of various ages seemingly enjoying life.

In Admire Kamudzengerere and Rachel Monosov’s pointed image, “Lake Chivero, Aug.31, 1972,” a grinning family frolics with balloons. The couple who co-created this image is interracial, something that would not have been possible in Zimbabwe in 1972. The image, a reenactment, was made in 2017 as a reminder of that fact. In the lower right corner, a card is adhered with information about the lake listing some of the wildlife that dwells there, and amenities, like waterslides, to be found there. At the very bottom of the card is the statement “Picture Shows Real Happiness of a Family.” Vernacular photography is a mystery, a puzzle waiting to be solved. This exhibition explores the possibilities of snapshots telling the whole story, or not.

“A Little Truth: Fact and Fiction in Family Photography” is on view at Block Museum, 40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston, through July 7.