Untitled (doll in toy fire truck) 1956

Editor: This is an untitled photograph by Jack Gould, showing a doll in a toy fire truck. There's also a very unsettling sense of implied action. What do you see in this piece? Curator: It feels like a memory, doesn't it? Fragmented, a little bizarre, and deeply personal. The negative image throws the familiar into shadow. Editor: Shadow? Curator: Exactly! Like childhood dreams half-remembered, a toy fire truck and a doll become symbols of something else. Are we witnessing play, or something more staged? Editor: It’s a bit haunting. I hadn't thought of the 'staged' element before. Curator: Photography captures moments, but the artist interprets them. What do you make of the arm reaching down? Editor: An adult playing? Or something else entirely? I’m not sure. Curator: Sometimes, the questions are the art itself, aren't they? It makes you think about all those forgotten moments of childhood.