Will Write Soon

These hundreds of photographs from an unusual register take us into the twists and turns of everyday life in the villages and countryside of North America at the beginning of the 20th century. In English, they are called “real photo postcard” (RPPC) and in French, “carte photo”. They are halfway between silver photography and postcards. They are original prints (real photographs, not printed images) with a space on the back for an address, a stamp and, from 1907, a few words. Before that date, only the address was allowed on the back of the cards, and messages were written directly on or around the image.

Sending a picture from home, a photograph you had taken yourself or one you had bought from a local or visiting photographer: this practice was extraordinarily popular between 1905 and 1915 in rural America. This boom in photo cards was helped in three ways: by the simplification of access to photography, by the remarkable drop in postage costs, and finally by the modernisation and free delivery of postcards.

Will Write Soon highlights the aesthetic and documentary qualities of almost 250 photographs, most of which were taken by amateurs. The materiality of these stamped souvenirs of everyday life is emphasised, and the backs of the images are shown.

Will Write Soon is based on the collection of photographic cards built up by collector and author David Thomson.