Untitled c. 1945

Curator: We're looking at an Untitled gelatin silver print by Jeanne Ebstel, likely from around 1945. Editor: There’s an immediate sense of being amongst a crowd of people, all pressed together in transit, and the boy's gaze lifts us above this dark scene. It feels like cautious optimism in what would have been a somber time. Curator: The composition certainly uses the hat brims and shoulders to define the frame. Notice how Ebtsel guides our eyes; leading us diagonally up from the back of the central figure to the boy's softly lit face, and using a limited tonal palette to direct our focus. It creates an asymmetrical but satisfying visual balance. Editor: But who are these people? This image makes me think about mobility in post-war cities. Were these refugees? Were these people off to work? And I wonder how this piece might connect to current discourses around the accessibility of transit for people of color and low income communities. Curator: True, we cannot overlook those social implications. I am equally interested in how Ebtsel renders the texture, which really comes to life as she captures nuanced relationships between light and shadow. Editor: Agreed. These monochrome nuances can also act as a stark commentary on the era. In 1945, what opportunities were available to that child, who seems so full of hope, especially considering socio-economic limitations of post war life and how social prejudices would hinder advancement for anyone who was not a wealthy, white, cis-gendered male? Curator: We cannot determine Ebtsel's intention, of course. But technically, it seems clear her command of realist composition lends the image its emotional and intellectual power. Look how light, rather than a story, is perhaps the real protagonist here! Editor: I appreciate that technical understanding. To me, though, the photograph's continued power comes from that single moment of hope, but, at the same time, also acting as a time capsule about past injustices and what has continued to be fought for to this day. Curator: I find it so telling of modern life that photography of fleeting street scenes and people can be imbued with so much enduring potential to reflect on structure, surface, texture, and ultimately the stories we project upon them.