Finding a use for your old photos

There’s an exhibition opening this week at the Photographers Gallery in the Covent Garden area by German photographer Joachim Schmid, although the photos he’s exhibiting weren’t actually taken by him.

For the past 25 years Schmid has collected pictures thrown away by their owners from all around the world and has emphasized photos that are produced and seen everyday. He uses discarded passport photos, high street studio portraits, ID cards, family snapshots and pictures from the Internet to create his images. One part of the exhibition uses negatives that have been cut in half by a studio photographer to prevent further use and Schmid has used them for collages.

The exhibition is on from 20 April-17 June and the Photographers Gallery is on Great Newport Street, just up from Leicester Square Tube. Its open 11am-6pm Mon-Sat (8pm Thurs) and 12-6pm Sun, admission is free.