Untitled (attempts at shoeing a mule) c. 20th century

Editor: This photograph, “Untitled (attempts at shoeing a mule),” is by the American Steel & Wire Co. The image has a candid feel. The man struggling with the mule certainly contrasts with the row of onlookers. What can you tell me about this scene? Curator: It speaks to labor and the social order. Look at the division: a working-class man wrestling with an animal, observed by a line of mostly white, presumably middle-class men. Who benefits from this labor? Where does power lie? The photograph becomes less about shoeing a mule and more about the dynamics of exploitation and spectatorship. Editor: That's a powerful reading. I was just thinking about the man and the mule! Curator: Exactly! That initial, perhaps naive, reading is precisely what the system wants you to see. Question everything, especially the seemingly straightforward. Editor: I will. It makes me think differently about documentary photography in general. Curator: Precisely the goal.