Untitled (group of kids in costume) 1944

Editor: This is an untitled photograph by John Deusing, featuring a group of kids in costume. It has a slightly eerie feeling to it because of the negative processing. What strikes you about it? Curator: The costumes immediately suggest a constructed identity, a performance of self. Given the lack of specific date, it's hard to pinpoint the cultural context, but the presence of certain costumes prompts questions about representation and cultural appropriation. Editor: Appropriation? Could you explain that further? Curator: Consider the power dynamics at play when children choose certain costumes. Are they celebrating a culture or perpetuating stereotypes? The photograph becomes a document of those choices, and the social implications embedded within them. What do you think about the setting? Editor: I hadn't thought of it that way. The setting looks like a normal living room to me, the normality juxtaposes the oddity of the negative processing. Thank you for your insight.