Courtesy of The Peter J. Cohen Collection

We wish you very Happy Holidays filled with all hopes for a better 2026. The holidays spent with relatives are often times when the ancient family photo albums emerge from the top shelves of the closet or a rarely traversed attic. The gift of our visual histories is always at the top of my list, so we asked our favorite source for examining the past– the amazing Peter J. Cohen Collection to share some of their favorite holiday vernacular photographs. We extend a huge thank you to the curators for providing us with memories of seasonal festivities. The collection is an incredible gift to the history of photography and a reminder how important it is to preserve our pasts.

Peter J. Cohen is a New York-based collector of snapshots and vernacular photographs. Spanning the late 19th century to the 1980s, the Peter J. Cohen Collection (PJCC) is one of the largest privately held collections of “anonymous” photographs in the U.S. Material from the PJCC has been donated to and featured in exhibitions at over 60 major art institutions worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA, the Morgan Library, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Victoria & Albert, and The Rijks. (See here for a comprehensive list of institutions.) Located in downtown New York, the collection is accessible by appointment. 

The PJCC currently houses over 100,000 photographs, encompassing many different processes and formats, including gelatin silver prints, cyanotypes, hand-tinted photos, chromogenic color prints, Polaroids, real photo postcards, and complete photo albums. The archive is organized into around 130 categories (and counting.) The breadth of these categories is testament both to Cohen’s extensive collecting interests and to the highly diverse nature of anonymous photography. Taken for the most part by amateurs and ordinary people, these photographs offer a highly unique look into a wide range of social moments, cultural practices, and relationships to image-making. 

Courtesy of The Peter J. Cohen Collection

Courtesy of The Peter J. Cohen Collection

Courtesy of The Peter J. Cohen Collection

Courtesy of The Peter J. Cohen Collection

Courtesy of The Peter J. Cohen Collection

Courtesy of The Peter J. Cohen Collection

Courtesy of The Peter J. Cohen Collection

Courtesy of The Peter J. Cohen Collection

Courtesy of The Peter J. Cohen Collection

Courtesy of The Peter J. Cohen Collection

Courtesy of The Peter J. Cohen Collection

Courtesy of The Peter J. Cohen Collection

Courtesy of The Peter J. Cohen Collection

Courtesy of The Peter J. Cohen Collection

Courtesy of The Peter J. Cohen Collection

Courtesy of The Peter J. Cohen Collection

Courtesy of The Peter J. Cohen Collection

Courtesy of The Peter J. Cohen Collection

Courtesy of The Peter J. Cohen Collection

Courtesy of The Peter J. Cohen Collection

Courtesy of The Peter J. Cohen Collection

Courtesy of The Peter J. Cohen Collection

Courtesy of The Peter J. Cohen Collection

Courtesy of The Peter J. Cohen Collection

Courtesy of The Peter J. Cohen Collection

Courtesy of The Peter J. Cohen Collection