An invitation and a pat on the back

I got an email a few days ago from the noted curator and writer, Marvin Heiferman. He invited me to take a look at a few new projects he's undertaken at the Smithsonian. Here's what he sent me:

click! photography changes everything (www.click.si.edu) is a provocative rethinking of photography's cultural impact that encourages site visitors to explore the ways photographic images enable us to visualize, comprehend, and interact with the world we live in.

click! features readable and informative short texts commissioned from experts, writers, inventors, public figures, and selected visitors to the website. Each text is illustrated with images chosen by project contributors and selected from the Smithsonian's vast collection of over 13 million images. Stories explore the many ways photography changes who we are, what we do, what we see, where we go, what we want, and what we remember. As digital technology is altering the form, content and transmission of camera imagery. click! photography changes everything provides a unique opportunity to reflect on the history, practice, and power of photography in the past, present, and future.

The second project, THE BIGGER PICTURE (blog.photography.si.edu), is a blog about photography and the Smithsonian. It features photographs from the Smithsonian Institution's archives, news about visual culture, and posts about photography in the digital age.

I took a look and I think it's a broad, inclusive program that deserves a look. I'll add the blog to my blog roll so you can click on the link anytime. The link for "Photography Changes Everything" is above.

On a personal note, I had a sweet little encounter this morning. I was visiting the Paris Photovintage hotel table fair looking for the odd vernacular treasure. I gave my card to the folks at AnamorFose Photo Gallery from Izegem, Belgium. Xavier, the owner, said, "I know you!". "Really? How?", I asked.
"I read your blog", was the reply. I can't tell you how much this warms my heart. My stat counter tell me that tens of people read my blog every day. To know that it is reaching a photo dealer I've never met in a Belgian town I've never heard of just makes me smile and smile. Thank you dear readers.