Watts, California 1977

Editor: This is Max Yavno’s "Watts, California" from 1977, a black and white photograph. There's something both desolate and defiant about this image, with the hand-painted warnings on the building. What do you see in this piece? Curator: The photograph vibrates with coded layers of visual information; what are those signs truly conveying? Watts, after the riots in the mid-sixties, carried deep cultural meaning. Consider these painted pronouncements – are they just practical warnings? Or are they symbols reflecting societal anxieties and individual resilience in a community scarred by conflict? What emotions rise for you when seeing the image? Editor: Definitely anxiety. It makes me think about fear, and what people feel they need to do to protect themselves and their space. So you think the messages and how they are represented matters more than their practical message? Curator: Absolutely. Look at the visual language. The crudeness of the hand-painted warnings, the stark monochrome, the architectural details – all point to a struggle for visibility and power. A shot gun under a phrase that can sound as either a kind invitation or a warning. Also think about how, over time, photographic images also can carry implicit, unconscious meanings – particularly documentary photography like this. Editor: I hadn't considered it that way, seeing how Yavno captured an atmosphere of anxiety and challenge by emphasizing the weight carried in visual messages and signs. Thank you. Curator: You're most welcome. Hopefully now you will see and be able to share what cultural and individual continuities, cultural memory and its importance, mean to this photo.