Untitled (chimp performing tricks on ball) c. 1950

Curator: What a find this small gelatin silver print is! It’s an untitled image of a chimp performing tricks, by Jack Gould, and it’s held here at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It’s wonderfully surreal, actually! There's a strange melancholic beauty in this inverted, almost ghostly circus scene. Curator: Absolutely. And look at the production: the construction of a performance, the implicit labor involved in training this animal for entertainment, then Gould's careful framing. Editor: It's also about aspiration, maybe. This chimp on a ball...reaching, performing. I wonder what it dreams of beyond the hoops. A curious sense of loneliness, too. Curator: Yes, one can consider the consumerist context: popular entertainment in the first half of the 20th century and its reliance on spectacle, often at the expense of the performers themselves. Editor: It’s a compelling photograph, though! So much going on for a small frame, it really lingers. Curator: Indeed. It's a testament to the power of capturing fleeting moments, isn't it?