Untitled (girl's highschool basketball team posing with trophy) 1928

Editor: Look at the composition, the way the figures are arranged. It is striking, a symmetrical, almost reverential presentation of these young women. Curator: Indeed. This is an Untitled work by Hamblin Studio, and we believe it captures a girl's high school basketball team with their trophy. Editor: The photograph is a study in contrasts, light and dark, figure and ground. The almost ethereal quality is quite captivating. Curator: The photograph's materiality, its gelatin silver print, tells a story of access and the labor required to produce such an object, especially in the early 20th century. What was the social reality behind this team? Editor: Perhaps what we see here is not just a team, but a carefully constructed image, an iconic representation of achievement and aspiration. Curator: Precisely! The photograph, a material artifact, becomes a window into understanding social and cultural values of its time.