Untitled (students next to school buses) 1959

Curator: This image, by John Deusing, is simply titled "Untitled (students next to school buses)." The photographic print measures just over 10 by 12 centimeters. Editor: It's stark, almost unsettling. The high contrast and the way the students are grouped evokes a sense of forced movement, of being processed. Curator: Precisely. Consider the context of school segregation and bussing policies when encountering the image. The buses themselves become symbols of forced integration. Editor: And the materials – the film, the printing process – are also crucial. The limitations, the graininess, the lack of color, all emphasize the raw social reality of the moment. Curator: Absolutely. The photograph invites us to confront uncomfortable truths about power structures, and reflect on how those inequalities might affect the students. Editor: Thinking about the labor involved in producing these buses and transporting these students, it highlights the sheer scale of the undertaking, the social engineering. Curator: Indeed. By exploring this image, we're confronting an era of change and resistance, and considering the ongoing legacies of that period. Editor: An era where the materiality of everyday objects becomes fraught with political and social significance.