Untitled (ten photographs: Cuban revolutionaries, with guns and drinking) after 1950

Editor: Here we have Lester Cole’s “Untitled (ten photographs: Cuban revolutionaries, with guns and drinking).” It looks like a contact sheet, presenting various scenes of celebration. What story do you think it tells? Curator: Well, contact sheets aren't neutral. They are a curated selection and arrangement. Here, Cole seems to juxtapose images of armed revolutionaries with scenes of leisure and celebration. It raises questions about the complexities and contradictions within revolutionary movements, doesn’t it? Editor: That's true. So, it's not just documenting, but making a statement about power dynamics? Curator: Exactly. We need to consider who is being represented, and how the act of photographing might influence the narrative. The casualness is staged. These photographs tell us about the creation of revolutionary identities. Editor: I see. It's fascinating how much context shifts my understanding of it. Curator: Indeed. Art opens avenues to question our assumptions about historical movements and political representation.