Tokens of appreciation

Why do we keep souvenirs? Because they tether us to a moment, a place or a feeling, acting as a physical reminder of an experience or a connection.

- SOFIA DE LA CRUZ

All too often, they are clichéd, inexpensive trinkets, hastily bought at an airport, train station or tourist trap, their significance woefully diminished by mass production (even if some, like those bearing Milton Glaser’s ‘I heart NY’ logo, do hold an undeniable charm).

Yet the significance and value of a souvenir isn’t just in its physical form but in the story that it tells. A train ticket repurposed as a bookmark, a shell smoothed by an unfamiliar sea, a seemingly naff keyring – these objects are infused with personal meaning.

And, in an era where travel is documented through an infinite scroll of images on social media, the physical keepsake has never felt more valuable. To explore the contemporary significance of souvenirs, we turned to our well-travelled network of photographers, asking them to dive into their archives and select images of treasured mementoes that layer place, object and memory.

The images pose a beautiful interplay between the tangible and the intangible, woven through their compositions. Whether it’s an inherited tourist T-shirt, a flea market find or a ten-year-old exhibition ticket, souvenirs transcend their material nature to become storytelling artefacts.

Through the eyes of our seven photographers, we see them not just as passive reminders, but as active participants in memory-making, shaping how we recall places, people and emotions.

Annika Kafcaloudis T-shirt, Greece