Untitled (boy eating popcorn and looking at movie poster) c. 1950

Curator: This gelatin silver print, "Untitled (boy eating popcorn and looking at movie poster)" by Jack Gould, presents an interesting study of consumption. The image’s grainy texture emphasizes its materiality. What draws your attention here? Editor: I'm struck by how this snapshot captures a very specific moment of leisure, a child consuming popcorn while engaging with movie posters. It makes me consider what is being sold, and what the child is buying into. Curator: Exactly. The readily available popcorn, the sensationalized movie posters… it speaks volumes about post-war American culture and how easily narratives and goods were being consumed, doesn’t it? Editor: It definitely does. It makes you consider how the means of production of the film and the popcorn are brought together in one image, in this moment. Curator: Precisely! Food for thought, indeed.