I open the cover slowly, feeling the rough nubbiness of the familiar (usually black) paper, sometimes crumbling in my hand. Photo albums are transformative. As soon as I open the cover there is a rush of feeling that something I was never meant to see is in my hands. As I turn the pages, I am activating a story. The pages of the album show the progression of time; they are not just about a single moment but rather they are about the accumulation of time. A narrative is building, faces are aging, and often there are words or drawings: someone is telling their story. When I turn the page I have no idea what to expect. There is a mysterious, intimate pleasure in seeing how others have preserved their lives.--Barbara Levine, "Collecting Photo Albums--Musings On," in SNAPSHOT CHRONICLES