Untitled (football team, Friends School) 1939

Editor: This is an untitled photograph by Harris & Ewing, showing the Friends School football team. The negative image gives it an eerie feel. What can you tell me about this picture? Curator: It's fascinating how this reversed image speaks to the construction of American ideals of masculinity and teamwork, isn't it? What narratives were being built through images like these, and whose stories were excluded? Editor: I hadn't thought about it that way. It does seem very posed and deliberate, almost staged for a certain effect. Curator: Exactly. Think about how images like this contributed to a specific, often exclusionary, understanding of American identity and the roles of different social groups within it. Editor: So, it's not just a photo of a football team, but a statement about who belonged and what values were being promoted. Curator: Precisely. Understanding these visual cues helps us unpack the deeper social and political contexts of the time. Editor: That gives me a lot to consider, seeing the picture in its historical context. Curator: Me too. I wonder what stories are not being told in this image?