Untitled (twelve photographs: Cuban revolutionaries on tanks) after 1950

Editor: This is Lester Cole’s "Untitled (twelve photographs: Cuban revolutionaries on tanks)." The gelatin silver print shows twelve different scenes. It looks like a filmstrip. I’m curious; what stands out to you when you look at this work? Curator: Well, consider the material reality of this filmstrip. It's a physical object capturing a specific historical moment—Cuban revolutionaries on tanks. The means of production, the camera, the film, the darkroom, are all crucial. What kind of labor went into producing both the revolution *and* documenting it? Editor: So you’re thinking about the process of making the image, and how that relates to the subject? Curator: Precisely. And how that relates to its consumption. How does seeing these images, mass-produced and distributed, affect our understanding of the revolution itself? It’s not just about the art, but the system of production and consumption it exists within. Editor: Thanks. I see that now, considering the materiality of both the photographic strip and the depicted tanks offers a new layer to understanding the social context.