The Mole and the Sun 2018

Editor: Here we have Pieter Henket’s "The Mole and the Sun" from 2018, a photograph that presents a stark, earthy scene. I’m immediately drawn to the textured wall behind the figures – it feels almost like it’s a character in itself. What strikes you about this work? Curator: I’m fascinated by the deliberate construction of this image. It’s a photograph, yes, but look at how Henket utilizes materials – the actual mud and straw construction of that wall, versus its photographic representation. The light itself becomes a palpable material, sculpting the figures and defining the space. Does the composition hint at some division of labour within the family or community pictured? Editor: I hadn't considered the construction of the wall in real life - so the cracks are genuine, that is not applied digitally after? I was focused on the contrast between the figures: the colourfully dressed boy standing by the mother lying in bed against the tanned, dark boy knelt beside. Curator: Exactly! These material conditions of existence aren't merely backdrops; they're active agents shaping the narrative. It forces us to confront the realities of how the art is produced, and how those circumstances can speak to the power relations embedded within its context, right? I wonder too, what the materiality of light may also express... Consider the construction materials used and their accessibility within the portrayed community. Editor: So it's not just about what's depicted, but *how* it's depicted, revealing something about resources, or lack thereof, impacting lives? I see the "figurative art", but through your lens it reads as narrative-through-materials. Curator: Precisely. And within a photograph, itself constructed through material means – chemicals, light-sensitive paper – and decisions about framing, angle, and so on, all point toward the social conditions of art creation itself. Editor: I'll definitely look at photography differently now – thinking not just of the image, but the layers of material involved in getting there.