Untitled (Eugenie Stoll, one year old) 1933

Curator: Here we have C. Bennette Moore’s Untitled photograph of Eugenie Stoll as a one-year-old child. Its stark tonality is immediately striking. Editor: Indeed. It's an almost ghostly image; the inversion of light and shadow gives the familiar subject a rather unsettling quality. What material processes might have influenced this outcome? Curator: The negative, the play of light and shadow, creates this inverted image. We can analyze the child's pose, the toy she clutches; there's a formal arrangement at play here. Editor: Yet, consider the labor involved. The photographic process itself, the darkroom techniques. Are we seeing a simple portrait or a carefully constructed representation, reliant on material and context? Curator: It’s a capture of innocence, perhaps? The toy is a comforting presence, balancing the starkness. Editor: Or is it a crafted image, revealing more about the aspirations and social conventions around childhood at the time it was made? Curator: Ultimately, it’s a fascinating dialogue between subject and technique. Editor: A conversation about making and meaning that continues to resonate today.