Untitled (family posed outside front door of house) 1953

Editor: This is an untitled photo by Martin Schweig, taken with a Kodak film. It's a family portrait outside their house. It strikes me as a very staged, almost artificial image. What's your take on it? Curator: I see the appeal in considering the materiality of photography, the Kodak film as a mass-produced consumer product shaping the aesthetic. The act of posing itself, is a performance, constructing an idealized image of family and status. Do you see the implications of the photographic process influencing our perception of the family's social context? Editor: Absolutely. It makes you consider how the accessibility of photography impacted the way middle-class families wanted to be perceived and remembered. Thanks for your insight! Curator: Indeed. Examining the means of production provides a lens into the cultural values embedded within the image.