Untitled (woman modeling bathing suit) 1957

Editor: This is an untitled photograph by Jack Gould, showing a woman in a bathing suit. It looks like an advertisement. What strikes me is the contrast between the glamorous model and the quite ordinary, perhaps even unfinished, setting. What do you make of it? Curator: I'm drawn to the materiality here. The photograph itself, its creation, and its purpose as a tool of commerce. It's fascinating to consider the labor involved in producing both the bathing suit and the image itself. How does the act of photographing, of turning a body into a commodity, influence our understanding? Editor: That's interesting, I hadn't thought about the labor involved. It does make me question the power dynamics at play in this image. Thanks! Curator: Indeed. Thinking about the means of production can unlock a whole new layer of meaning.