Jane Hammond: MoMA acquires 'Album (Madeline Tomaini)' and interviews the artist

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has acquired Jane Hammond's work 'Album (Madeline Tomaini)' (2007), currently on view as part of the 'Visual Vernaculars' project until autumn 2025. In an interview at her SoHo loft in New York, the artist (born 1950 in Bridgeport, Connecticut) discusses her compulsive collecting of vernacular photographs—now numbering around 20,000—and her process of combining found images with her own to create black-and-white silver gelatin prints that feel real but are entirely fabricated. Hammond began collecting flea market finds and eBay purchases around 2002-2003, often seeking specific items like red parrot feathers or polar bear images. Her work is held by major institutions including the Whitney Museum of American Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, MFA Boston, National Gallery of Art Washington, SFMOMA, Bibliothèque Nationale Paris, and Albertina Vienna. She lives with her husband Craig McNeer and has been working from home since 2000, embracing chaos in her creative process. Her grandmother Edythe Jarvis, who traveled widely and photographed extensively, was a major influence. Hammond draws parallels between cooking and art-making, both involving combining ingredients improvisationally.