Untitled (two girls playing "dress up" next to bed) 1947

Curator: This is an intriguing photograph by Jack Gould, entitled "Untitled (two girls playing 'dress up' next to bed)". Editor: It has such a ghostly, dreamlike quality, doesn't it? The inverted tones create an otherworldly feel. Curator: Yes, the photographic process itself is central. Gould's choice to present the image as a negative impacts how we perceive this intimate scene. What might have been a casual childhood moment is transformed. Editor: I wonder what it tells us about representations of children during the time it was created? Were these images intended for private viewing, or were they part of a larger cultural discourse? Curator: And consider the material conditions. The availability of film, the development process... these shaped the image as much as Gould's intent. Editor: I'm left pondering how such ordinary items—a bedspread, a pair of dress-up shoes—take on a different kind of significance through the lens of history and photography. Curator: Absolutely. Examining both its materiality and its potential as a cultural artifact really opens this photograph up.