Untitled (four men on horseback) c. 1933

Editor: So this is Harry Annas' "Untitled (four men on horseback)." It's a black and white photograph, and the reversal makes it feel like a ghostly image. What strikes you about it? Curator: The inverted tones cast a critical lens on the mythos of the American West. Who gets to be a cowboy? What does the image of these figures on horses communicate about power, identity, and exclusion? Editor: I see your point. It does subvert the typical heroic cowboy image. Curator: Exactly. The reversal disrupts any easy reading of rugged individualism, forcing us to consider whose narratives are privileged and whose are erased in the construction of this iconic imagery. Editor: It's like it's questioning the whole idea of the cowboy. Curator: Precisely. And isn't that what art should do – make us question what we take for granted? Editor: Definitely gave me a lot to think about!