Drunken Faun 19th-20th century

Editor: This is Joseph Smith’s photograph, "Drunken Faun," and it looks like a figure emerging from a hazy dream. What symbols stand out to you in this image? Curator: The faun, of course, acts as a symbol of untamed nature and Dionysian revelry. The obscured quality of the photograph, does that not remind you of faded memories or perhaps a yearning for a lost, prelapsarian world? Editor: I hadn’t thought about it that way! It gives it a mythical feel. Curator: Yes, it speaks to how we use images to project our desires and anxieties, imbuing them with meanings that shift across time. Editor: That's fascinating, I'll definitely look at images differently now!