Untitled (antelope at the zoo in the bushes) c. 1950

Editor: This is "Untitled (antelope at the zoo in the bushes)" by Jack Gould. It's a small, intriguing photograph, almost like a dream. The inverted colors make it surreal. What strikes you about this image? Curator: The photograph's cultural context is fascinating. Zoos, as institutions, reflect our complex relationship with the natural world. This image, presented in negative, makes you question ideas of spectacle and control. How does inverting the image affect your understanding of its message? Editor: I think it makes it seem more artificial, less real. Like a staged encounter. Curator: Exactly! It also comments on the act of photography itself, a medium that mediates our experience of reality. It's a powerful, if subtle, commentary on the politics of seeing. I've never thought of it that way! Editor: I've never thought of it that way! Curator: It definitely gives us a new way to consider the human-animal connection.