According to psychologist and author Christian Jarrett, roughly a third of people in the UK collect something. From traffic cones to old bars of soap (yes, really) it appears we get a kick out of filling our spare bedrooms with ephemera. Over the past 40 years I have collected shells, records (specifically12in picture discs), postcards, old letters, magazines and, of course, photographs. Admittedly, my enthusiasm for many of these collections has been short-lived. The vinyl has been sold, the letters binned, and the boxes of shells and postcards found a new home in my parents' loft (thanks Mum and Dad).
However, two of my collections are still ‘active. The fact that I still love, and collect, magazines and photographs is no surprise; I've worked in the photo publishing industry for…
