Untitled (bowling team) c. 1950

Curator: Looking at John Deusing’s “Untitled (bowling team)” is like peering into a forgotten memory, a world captured on a 4x5 inch negative, light and shadow dancing in this silver gelatin print. Editor: It feels…industrial. The row of men lined up, the gleaming bowling balls, the fluorescent lighting—it speaks of repetitive labor and leisure intertwined. Curator: Absolutely, there’s a sense of regimentation, the almost identical uniforms and ties hinting at a collective identity, while each man remains distinct. It’s a very human landscape. Editor: And consider the process—each photograph a physical artifact, touched by the photographer's hand, developed with chemicals, each print a record of a specific moment in time. Curator: That's lovely, like an alchemical act. Deusing has given us an image not just of bowlers, but a glimpse of an era defined by work, camaraderie, and the simple joys found in-between. Editor: It's a striking reminder of the material realities behind the image itself and the bowler's social context. Curator: Indeed. It leaves me pondering, What stories do their bowling balls tell, and where did these men go after they put them down? Editor: And what's become of the factory or studio in which this photo was taken?