Untitled (team portrait of boys' football team) 1948

Editor: This is John Howell's "Untitled (team portrait of boys' football team)," a black and white photograph. It has an eerie, almost ghostly quality because it is a negative. The material itself is fascinating. What can you tell me about it? Curator: As a negative, the photograph offers insights into photographic processes. It demonstrates a stage in the production of the final image. Howell’s work embodies the materiality of image-making. Do you think this challenges the concept of a finished product? Editor: I think it does. It makes you consider all the steps and labor involved. I've never thought of photography that way before! Curator: Precisely! It prompts us to reconsider photography as a constructed process, rather than just a representational medium.