Hair Washing, Hopi Indians (Shoshonean) c. 1870

Curator: This is "Hair Washing, Hopi Indians (Shoshonean)," a photograph by John K. Hillers. It captures a tender domestic scene. What's your initial take? Editor: The tonality is strikingly muted, almost sepia-toned with the subjects arranged in a pyramidal composition, drawing the eye upward, but its muted tones bring a sense of solemnity. Curator: It's beautiful, and of course, staged. Still, I wonder about the women's expressions, so caught up in that moment. What are they thinking? Editor: Perhaps the very act of creating this image froze a moment, but the subjects' arrangement and tonal balance grant the everyday, ritualistic even. Curator: That's interesting. So much more than just "hair washing," isn't it? Editor: Indeed.