Useful Photography, the brainchild of Hans Aarsman, Claudie de Cleen, Julian Germain, Erik Kessel and Hans van der Meer, is a wonderfully deadpan series of publications celebrating vernacular photography. Often stressing the functionality of photography as a visual means to an end, each issue compiles images culled from a specifically curated theme. Whether amassing images from online auction websites, photographs from the National Missing Persons Helpline, posters of Palestinian suicide bombers or the use of "before and after" photography, Useful Photography celebrates the medium's varied, often utilitarian, applications.
They also have a wonderful website with some of the funniest and most outrageous collections of vernacular photography I've ever seen. If you need some more convincing, just go the gallery section of their website and check out:
Girls and Coffins and
Magic Mountain. Both of which are bizarre and amazing.
You can purchase some of the publications
here.
All Images © Useful Photography
