Untitled (formally dressed girls, outside) 1937

Curator: This is an intriguing photograph, simply titled "Untitled (formally dressed girls, outside)" by Harris & Ewing. Editor: My first thought? A slightly unsettling, dreamlike quality. The stark contrast gives it an otherworldly feel, like a memory half-forgotten. Curator: Indeed. Harris & Ewing were a prominent photographic studio known for capturing portraits of political figures and social events. This image, though undated, evokes a particular era. Editor: It's the formality, isn't it? The long dresses, the almost ritualistic arrangement of the figures. It makes you wonder what occasion could bring them all together, looking so somber. Curator: Perhaps a graduation, or a ceremonial rite within a school or social organization. It's fascinating how the framing emphasizes the staged aspect of the photograph. Editor: It feels like a stage play, but without the narrative. The darks and lights make me want to understand the story behind each of those girls. Curator: And in that way, it invites us to speculate on the lives and social circumstances that this seemingly simple photograph obscures. Editor: It reminds me that every image is a performance of some kind, a fragment of a larger, often invisible, reality.