Untitled (man wearing shorts and argyle socks among crowd of people on street; shaking hands with another man) c. 1950

Editor: This photograph by Jack Gould captures a street scene, with a man in argyle socks shaking hands amidst a crowd. The negative image creates an unsettling effect. What kind of statement do you think Gould was making here? Curator: This image speaks to the performance of public life and to the unspoken rules that govern social interactions. The argyle socks, a sartorial choice, become a quiet rebellion. How might this image reflect the societal expectations of conformity prevalent during that era, and the subtle ways individuals challenged them? Editor: So the socks become a symbol of challenging norms? Curator: Precisely. Gould's choice to invert the image underscores the idea that what we see is not always what is real, prompting us to question the surface of social conventions. Editor: That's fascinating. I'll never look at argyle socks the same way.