Untitled (group posed on steps of brick building) 1925

Curator: Here we have "Untitled (group posed on steps of brick building)," a photograph attributed to Hamblin Studio. The print itself measures about 4 by 5 inches. Editor: It's ghostly! The high contrast and reversed tones give it an ethereal, otherworldly quality. What can you tell me about the process behind this image? Curator: Being a photographic negative, the light areas are dark and vice-versa. This reversal emphasizes the texture of the brick building and the fabrics of their clothes. The Hamblin Studio likely used a large format camera and glass plate negatives to capture this image. Editor: The subjects, formally dressed, hint at a particular social class and perhaps a significant occasion. It makes me wonder about the role of portrait studios in shaping social identities at the time. Curator: Absolutely. The materiality of the photograph itself, the chemicals, the paper, the labor involved—all of these things contributed to how the sitters wanted to be seen and the social history they wanted to construct. Editor: It's a striking reminder of how photography functions as both record and construction.