Special Photo Feature
Tales 4 Sale: The Stories Behind the Classifieds
Photojournalism students at the University of Montana were given an assignment: take a photo that tells the story behind a real classified ad.By Brian McDermott, 6-06-06
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Classified ads are old news. In the Missoulian on Jan. 1, 1946, one classified ad seeks a "girl or woman to assist to cooking and housework." Those looking for job perks would have been warmed by the next sentence: "can go home nights." Those familiar with housing prices in western Montana would be heartbroken by the ad for 10-acres of property in the Bitterroot for $8,500. Included for that money are "50 chickens…and some furniture."
Today, there are millions of new-media classified ads on eBay alone. Classifieds are part of the advertising chatter that subsumes us, and yet because of their long history, classified print ads retain a certain old-world charm.
The photos you'll see in this collection were taken by beginning photojournalism students for class at the University of Montana. Instead of shooting a classic feature assignment, the students had to choose a classified ad and photograph the story behind it.
Like a green-and-brown paisley couch in the give-away ads, the idea for a series about the Classifieds comes third-hand. The radio program "This American Life" aired a show exploring the stories behind classified ads, which an editor at the Beaver County Times heard. I worked for that paper, and photographed the special section we called "Classified Lives." When I headed west, the idea came along.
The point: there are great stories everywhere. In the smudgy back pages of the C-section, a student found a woman selling old gravestones. Another visited a Buddhist center advertising an apartment for rent -- "meditator preferred." Enjoy these glimpses behind the Classified ads.
--Brian McDermott, Photographer and Teacher
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