Untitled (family around table eating cake) 1944

Curator: Looking at this photo, "Untitled (family around table eating cake)" by John Deusing, I’m immediately struck by the everydayness of the scene, yet the inverted tones give it an almost ghostly quality. Editor: It's a stark image, almost clinical. The texture of the floral wallpaper contrasted with the dark cake slices highlights the constructed nature of domestic life, really interesting material contrast. Curator: The table setting itself is fascinating. Consider the labor involved: the baking, the serving, the ritual of shared food. It speaks to the social fabric of family gatherings. Editor: Yes, and the context of the photo matters. The fact that it is a negative, rather than a print, makes it a document of photographic process and labor, rather than simply a record of a particular historical celebration. Curator: The figures, though spectral, are undeniably present, caught in a moment of shared intimacy and the artifice of social celebration. Editor: True, and seeing the raw materiality of the photographic process allows us to engage with the image in a fresh light. Curator: I suppose, in the end, that the image is about the making, as much as the moment, of family history. Editor: Indeed, it leaves me contemplating the intersection of the personal and the photographic—a bittersweet aftertaste.