According to a commonly used definition, vernacular photography is ordinary, banal, trivial—that is to say, related to everyday life. Certainly many vernacular images, such as those taken by amateurs, are so. But a number of images show much more of the uncommon. This definition of the vernacular as ordinary seems too limited.

Herschel Feibel Grynszpan was born on 28 March 1921 in Hanover, Germany to Sendel and Riva Grynszpan. His parents were Jewish, both from Poland. He was the youngest of six children. Herschel left school in 1935. Having decided there wasn’t a future for him in Germany, his parents sent him to live with an uncle and aunt in Paris. He illegally entered France and was declared stateless after his nationality at birth (Polish) was stripped away. When his parents were deported from Germany in 1938, Herschel bought a gun and killed Ernst Vom Rath, shouting "you’re a filthy Boche". He was soon arrested and sent to prison. The killing was used to justify Kristallnacht. Money was raised an a lawyer was hired. The lawyer claimed it was a crime passionel and that Grynszpan and Vom Rath were lovers. In 1940, the trial was called off when France fell. Herschel was evacuated to Vichy France and shortly afterwards was arrested by the German invaders.

Herschel was taken to Berlin and a show trial was arranged. However, it was called of in 1942. He was last seen in 1942. He is thought to have died in a concentration camp.
– IMDb Mini Biography By: J KremniczerVernacular photography is a much broader whole that must be able to encompass images by amateurs and those taken by scientists, the police, insurance agents, studio operators, and automatic cameras, but also press photos; fashion, wedding, or identification photographs; X-rays; photographic objects; and many other examples of the medium’s numerous applications. Vernacular photography, like the vernacular in general, is that which is either utilitarian, domestic, or popular, or sometimes two of those aspects, or even all three together. [1]