Untitled (businessmen around conference table) 1952

Editor: Here we have Peter James Studio's "Untitled (businessmen around conference table)," a photograph of modest size housed at the Harvard Art Museums. The image itself feels staged, almost like a tableau vivant. What strikes you about this piece? Curator: Consider the process, the darkroom labor involved in creating this negative image, how the reversal of tones affects our perception. The suits, the table – they aren't merely depicting power, they *are* the materials of power. What does the photographic medium itself tell us about the culture of business at the time? Editor: So, the medium is the message, in a sense? How does that change our understanding? Curator: Precisely! It compels us to think about the labour, the consumption, and the deliberate construction of this 'business' image. Editor: I never thought of it that way! Thanks for pointing that out. Curator: Indeed. Now you can examine images from a completely new perspective.