Untitled (cars on country road) c. 1945

Editor: This is an untitled photograph by John Deusing, showing cars on a country road, its dimensions are 20.32 x 25.4 cm. The negative tonality gives it an eerie feel. What stands out to you? Curator: I'm drawn to the material process here. Photography, at its core, is about capturing light and transforming it through chemical processes. Consider the labor involved in producing this image, the darkroom techniques, the specific film stock, and how that physicality contributes to the final product and our experience. Editor: So, beyond the image itself, you're interested in the physical creation of it? Curator: Precisely. It challenges the notion of photography as purely representational, emphasizing its status as a crafted object, embedded in a network of production and consumption. I find the materiality speaks volumes. Editor: I never thought about photography that way, as crafted, rather than recorded.