New York 1987

Editor: Here we have Rosalind Solomon's 1987 gelatin-silver print, "New York." It’s a black and white photograph, and I’m struck by how personal and intimate the scene feels, almost like stepping into someone’s private sanctuary. What do you see in this piece? Curator: This image offers a wealth of information about production, labor, and the creation of identity. Look at the layering of textiles—the kente cloth draped over the altar, the patterned shirt, even the textures in the wood floor. Solomon uses the materiality of the print itself, the stark contrast achieved through the gelatin-silver process, to highlight these textures. Where do these materials come from, and what kind of labor is involved in their creation? Editor: That’s a fascinating point! I hadn’t considered the photograph's own materiality adding to the conversation about the subject’s material culture. So, are you suggesting the photograph itself becomes part of the narrative about production and value? Curator: Precisely! It invites us to think about how value is constructed around both the physical materials within the image and the photographic process itself. Consider also the angel statue – mass-produced or handmade? How does that impact our interpretation of the subject’s identity in relationship to cultural consumption? Editor: I see what you mean. The objects move from signifiers to evidence of a cultural identity being consciously constructed. Curator: Indeed, the photograph and those choices around the making of identity raise pertinent questions about authenticity, appropriation, and the circulation of meaning in a globalized world. What do you take away from it all? Editor: It makes me think more critically about how we, as viewers, participate in the consumption and interpretation of not only art, but also the stories that everyday objects tell. Curator: Exactly, the materials offer up these silent narratives of labour, production, and identity.