Untitled (beauty queens with potatoes) 1948

Editor: This is an untitled photograph by Peter James Studio, showing beauty queens with potatoes. The juxtaposition of glamour and…potatoes is striking. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see an exploration of labor and value. Potatoes, humble sustenance, presented by figures adorned in symbols of beauty. It's an intriguing commentary on the means of production being presented by the symbols of idealized consumption. Does the method of production change our perception? Editor: That's fascinating; I hadn't considered it in that light. Thanks! Curator: It's a reminder that even beauty is constructed through material processes.