Untitled (group portrait: three men and three women between curtains) c. 1950

Curator: Looking at John Deusing's photograph, "Untitled (group portrait: three men and three women between curtains)," I immediately feel a sense of posed formality, yet something about the negative image unsettles me. Editor: Yes, the photographic process itself is fascinating here. The labor involved in creating a negative, then a print, speaks to a specific era of image-making. The material of the photographic paper itself would be so interesting to analyze. Curator: It’s almost ghostly, isn't it? Like peering at figures from a half-remembered dream. Their formal wear, the backdrop...it suggests a special occasion, maybe a wedding? Editor: The uniformity in their clothing, perhaps mass-produced, points to certain social and economic conditions. What statement were they trying to make in their sartorial choices? Curator: Maybe they wished to display respectability, unity. The women's hats are just great! It's like a memory trying to surface. Editor: Absolutely, and thinking about the photographer’s choices in the darkroom reveals a great deal about their process. It's more than just pointing and shooting. Curator: Indeed. Deusing's photograph leaves us with questions instead of answers, and that is where its peculiar power lies. Editor: Exactly. Analyzing the photo in this way reveals clues about its historical and material reality.