St. Priac, France, from the Surf Beauties series (N232), issued by Kinney Bros. 1889

Editor: This is "St. Priac, France, from the Surf Beauties series," made in 1889 by Kinney Bros. It seems to be a print, part of a tobacco card series. There's something so odd about the image—the woman’s costume and her self-possessed gaze create an interesting juxtaposition. How do you interpret this work? Curator: The “Surf Beauties” series is so intriguing! What we see here are layers of cultural encoding. Notice the theatrical costuming—the quasi-traditional headdress, the boldly striped shawl, and what appears to be a bathing costume adapted into stage wear. They are laden with meaning and historical echoes. Editor: Like what sort of meaning? I’m just not entirely sure I see it. Curator: Well, think about how the image uses the ‘exotic’—that is, the French seaside—to sell tobacco. The female figure becomes a symbol, too. Her somewhat defiant pose, combined with the ‘native’ costume, invokes a complex mix of sensuality and authority that reflects the psychology of colonialist desire. The artist consciously makes an art form that acts like advertising and portraiture simultaneously. Editor: I never would have made that connection between a tobacco card and colonialism. That makes me see it in an entirely new way. Curator: The value lies precisely in decoding these subtle languages. Seeing how the cultural and psychological weight of images accumulates over time can radically change our perceptions of visual culture. Editor: That’s a lot to consider. Thanks for the insight. It's helped me appreciate how a seemingly simple image can hold so much meaning.