Untitled (people in department store) 1935

Editor: This silver gelatin print, "Untitled (people in department store)" by Hamblin Studio, shows a bustling scene. The negative print creates a ghostly effect. What strikes you about it? Curator: I see a fascinating document of early consumer culture. The photographic process itself is key. Note the material limitations and how the studio addressed them. The visible scratches and imperfections in the negative are not flaws, but evidence of the labor involved in mass production. Editor: So, the value lies in the production process and its context? Curator: Precisely. It challenges the idea of the photograph as a purely objective representation and reveals the social and economic forces shaping everyday life. Consider the department store as a site of both desire and labor. We can discuss the materiality further.