Spring Snow, View of Rennie Booher’s House, Danville, Virginia 1974

Editor: Here we have Emmet Gowin's "Spring Snow, View of Rennie Booher’s House, Danville, Virginia," a gelatin-silver print from 1974. I find the circular composition quite striking and dreamlike. What strikes you when you look at this piece? Curator: What interests me is the labor inherent in this piece. A gelatin-silver print involves a very specific process. How does the material quality of the silver, the process of layering it, and the labor required to create it affect our perception of the final image? It’s a rather ordinary scene, elevated by the artistry of photographic printing, and the social act of making pictures. Editor: That's a good point; the seemingly simple scene is achieved through a labor-intensive process, and the material choices elevate it. Curator: Consider the shift from tangible processes to digital image making. There's a physicality to Gowin’s process which invites contemplation about material origins and labor involved that digital media obscures. Is the experience of looking at "Spring Snow" different because of our awareness of the making? Editor: Definitely! Knowing about the physical work transforms the image from a captured moment to a crafted object. Does the "Realist" element have bearing on what’s valued? Curator: Absolutely, and we should investigate the political and cultural status of Realism in art in 1974. The photo shows a residence: where are the people? How does this lack play into the material context? Editor: That’s given me a completely fresh way of thinking about photography, focusing on the tangible aspects, how and where it’s crafted, and how the context shapes the meaning. Curator: It highlights the value added through artistic intervention, turning an everyday scene into something worthy of aesthetic consideration and examination of material origins.