Untitled (woman or child playing pool) c. 1950

Curator: My first thought looking at Jack Gould's photograph is the sheer vulnerability. There’s something lonely, even melancholic, about the figure perched on that chair. Editor: Absolutely. And it's striking how the glossy surface of the pool table, the red shirt, and the film itself emphasize the material reality of play, childhood, and the photographic process. Curator: The child's gesture, reaching across the expanse of the pool table, speaks to a desire for connection and mastery, but also suggests the challenges of achieving those things. Playing pool often represents strategic thinking and power dynamics. Editor: Right. We see the chair acting as a facilitator, a tool for participation, and it really highlights the material conditions that enable even simple acts of leisure and learning. Curator: Ultimately, this quiet image evokes the universal struggle to navigate the world and find our place within it. Editor: Yes, it makes you consider who has access to such spaces and how those spaces are themselves constructed.