Talking Pictures: Images and Messages Rescued from the Past

Ransom Riggs

Oct 2012 · Harper Collins

About this ebook

A unique collection of vintage images from the author of the New York Times bestselling illustrated novel Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

With the candid quirkiness of Awkward Family Photos and the confessional intimacy of PostSecret, Ransom Riggs’s Talking Pictures is a haunting collection of antique found photographs with evocative inscriptions that bring these lost personal moments to life. Each image reveals a singular, frozen moment in a person’s life, be it joyful, quiet, or steeped in sorrow.

Yet the book’s unique depth comes from the writing accompanying each photo: as with the caption revealing how one seemingly random snapshot of a dancing couple captured the first dance of their forty-year marriage, each successive inscription shines like a flashbulb illuminating a photograph’s particular context and lighting up our connection to the past.

“I’m absolutely fascinated . . . there’s just enough written [on the photos] to make each image more powerful, and leave you wanting to know more.” —Boingboing

Ratings and reviews

Loved looking at all the photos. Brought back many memories for me since I was born in 1952 and many of the photos were similar to pictures I've seen from my childhood. I wish the book could have been alot longer and with even more pictures. It was quite enjoyable. Thanks.

This book was a delightful keyhole to the past in all it's sadness, elation, playfulness, and mistery. A snapshot of lifes gone by. Each picture could inspire volumes of storries about the subjects in them.

It was very interesting to find out what the pictures were about and it made got me very intreged ☺ but some the writing was hard to read.😐

About the author

The author of the runaway New York Times bestseller Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs holds an MFA in film production from the USC School of Cinema-Television. A former journalist, photographer, and documentary film editor, his award-winning short films have screened at more than 70 film festivals worldwide. He is also a contributing writer and blogger for mental_floss magazine and Mentalfloss.com.