Untitled (people at cocktail party) 1950

Editor: This untitled photograph by Peter James Studio captures a group at what appears to be a cocktail party. It's striking, especially with the figures presented as a negative. What stands out to you about this piece? Curator: The materiality of this photographic negative is fascinating. We see the labor involved in image-making, a process hidden in the final print. The 'Kodak' mark is telling of the era’s consumer culture. Editor: So, you're focusing on the means of production, not necessarily the social event itself? Curator: Exactly. The context becomes less about the party, and more about the democratization and consumption of photography itself. What does the visibility of the photographic process tell us? Editor: I see what you mean. It shifts the focus from the depicted event to the act of capturing it, and how that act was becoming more accessible. Curator: Precisely. It's the material reality and its implications, not just the surface image.