Untitled (man, woman, and girl looking into shop window at mysterious vacuum display) 1948

Curator: Here we have an intriguing gelatin silver print by Jack Gould, currently untitled, though the museum has described it as depicting a family gazing into a shop window. Editor: It has such a haunting stillness about it, despite being a street scene. The tones, the reflected light... it feels almost staged. Curator: The photograph complicates any simple reading of consumerism. Look at how Gould positions the family in relation to the "Remington" sign and that gleaming vacuum cleaner display. Editor: It's about aspiration, surely. The social context of a family, possibly during the Depression, looking at objects promising cleanliness and modernity. Curator: Exactly, and note Gould's choice of photographic materials. The silver gelatin process lends itself to a kind of stark realism, yet he’s captured a dreamlike quality. Editor: A fascinating commentary on the promise of the machine age, captured in a medium of its own time. Curator: It certainly offers an unexpectedly intimate perspective on the social dynamics of desire and display.