Untitled (car show, foreign, domestic, travel trailers) c. 1945

Curator: This gelatin silver print by Harris & Ewing, titled "Untitled (car show, foreign, domestic, travel trailers)," presents such a fascinating scene! Editor: It's striking. The inverted tones give it an almost dreamlike quality, a ghost of mid-century consumerism. Curator: Exactly! The bunting and chandeliers suggest a celebration, but the cars – foreign, domestic, and even travel trailers – hint at deeper currents of postwar identity and aspiration. Editor: I find myself thinking about the gendered element, too. Car culture has historically been so tied to masculine identity. The bodies surrounding them almost appear as accessories, which is telling. Curator: Yes, the figures are present but somehow anonymous, furthering the emphasis on the machines. It's a world caught between progress and a more complicated reality. Editor: It makes you question what the image is really celebrating – the cars or the cultural narrative they represent? Powerful stuff, this reversed mirror.