Untitled (elderly women wearing hats) 1948

Curator: This photographic negative, simply titled "Untitled (elderly women wearing hats)," comes to us from Jack Gould. Its intimate scale, only 6x6 cm, draws you in. Editor: It’s a bit eerie, this negative. The reversed tones give it a ghostly feel. Are we looking at a memory, a forgotten moment? Curator: The hats certainly place it in a specific era, hinting at mid-20th century fashion and social norms around presentation, particularly for women. Editor: Indeed. It’s fascinating how dress codes dictated so much about identity and belonging. I wonder what stories these women hold, what spaces they occupied. The hats almost feel like protective shields. Curator: It’s interesting to consider the photograph itself as an object. Who was Gould, and what was his relationship to these women? Why this particular composition? Editor: I agree. We see them in the context of their environment, perhaps their home, a statement about the domestic sphere and the roles they inhabited. Curator: This negative offers a fascinating, albeit inverted, glimpse into a past world. Editor: It makes you wonder about the untold narratives, the silent witnesses to history.