Junk Drawer :What We Leave Behind - Material Culture Perspectives
Junk Drawer :What We Leave Behind - Material Culture Perspectives
hardcover
Pre-Order Published On:
11 August, 2026
Popular Books by Sander Gilman
View All Books by Sander Gilman
Description
Junk Drawer: What We Leave Behind explores the personal objects that were once treasured by their owners yet were ultimately consigned to online "junk drawer" sales. Photographer and coeditor Barbara Von Eckardt acquired these random assortments from estate remnants on eBay and has documented their contents through evocative, sepia-toned images. In doing so, she has breathed new life into items that the world had deemed valueless, but that hint at the stories and identities of those who once owned them.
In addition to the photographs, Von Eckardt and coeditor Sander L. Gilman have gathered essays by scholars across disciplines, each offering a unique perspective on how such everyday objects can carry profound meaning. The result is a "junk drawer" of reflections, as varied and thought-provoking as the artifacts themselves. It is a moving testament to the emotional and cultural resonance of ordinary things—and an invitation to look more deeply at the objects surrounding us.
More Details
| Type | Book |
|---|---|
| ISBN13 | 9781644534236 |
| ISBN10 | 1644534231 |
| Number Of Pages | 166 |
| Item Weight | 454 g |
| Publisher / Reseller | University of Delaware Press |
| Format | hardcover |
Media Reviews
With Junk Drawer: What We Leave Behind, Sander Gilman and Barbara Von Eckardt have done a wide array of academic fields and interdisciplinarity an immense service. They demonstrate, creatively, with a focus on photography, how one can turn the (supposedly) normal and unexceptional into an exemplary scholarly project. Oh what we take for granted! Such things—such as the pictures and 'ephemera' in the "junk drawer"—just might be uncut intellectual gems. Gilman and Von Eckhardt have assembled a sparking team in illuminating their rich questions, observations and discussions. - Michael Berkowitz, author of Jews and Photography in Britain (2015)
)Author's Bio
Sander L. Gilman is an emeritus professor of liberal arts and sciences at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
Barbara Von Eckardt is an emeritus professor of history, philosophy, and the social sciences at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence.