Untitled (two boys in swimsuits by crowded pool) c. 1950

Editor: Here we have an untitled gelatin silver print by Jack Gould, showing two boys at a crowded pool. The inverted tones give it an otherworldly feel, but the Kodak border reminds us it's a manufactured object. What stands out to you? Curator: It's compelling how Gould frames leisure. The photographic process itself, reliant on industrial production, becomes intertwined with the consumption of leisure. The very materiality of the print, the gelatin silver, speaks to that. Consider also the labor involved in creating the pool itself, a constructed space of leisure. Editor: So, the image, the pool, and even the swimsuits all point to a system of production and consumption? Curator: Precisely. The photograph isn't just a snapshot; it's a document of a particular socio-economic landscape, materialized through industrial processes. Editor: I never considered how much manufacturing enables even simple summer fun. Curator: It's in these details, the materiality of the image, that we can excavate deeper social and economic meanings.