Peeled 

Editor: This is "Peeled" by Scott Fraser, and it's a photograph. The incredible detail makes it appear hyperreal. I’m struck by how something so everyday—peeling a lemon—can be presented so strikingly. What captures your attention in this piece? Curator: I'm drawn to the inherent tension between the manufactured image and the natural, almost discarded object. This is a photograph of a lemon peel, elevated from kitchen waste to art. Consider the labour involved: cultivating the lemon, shipping it, the act of peeling, and then the precise arrangement and photographic technique employed by Fraser. Editor: So you’re saying that the artistic value isn't solely based on the image itself but the processes and context surrounding it? Curator: Exactly! Think about the history of still life painting, often associated with wealth and conspicuous consumption. Fraser seems to be both echoing that tradition and subtly critiquing it by focusing on the peel - a byproduct, an element that is normally discarded. The photograph itself becomes a commodity through printing, gallery representation, and potential sale. Editor: That makes me think about food waste and how differently we treat objects based on their context. Seeing this peel under these lights forces you to look at it again. Curator: Precisely. How does our society determine what is valued, what is waste, and what becomes art? Fraser makes us consider this relationship to commodities. Does focusing our eye on the photographic process then make this a valuable thing in itself? Editor: It’s like, it starts with the seed and ends with…us looking at it differently. This changed how I think of realism, definitely. Curator: Yes. It's a conversation about materiality, labour, and the frameworks we create for valuing objects.