Untitled (McLellan's store interior) c. 1940

Curator: Immediately, I feel an odd sense of longing mixed with a disquieting stillness looking at this interior; almost an uncanny valley of a store. Editor: This photographic print by John Deusing, held at the Harvard Art Museums, presents an untitled interior view of McLellan's store. The absence of people emphasizes the architecture and the merchandise. Curator: The inverted tones give this such a dreamlike quality. It's like a memory fading, or a place between places. Did Deusing intend to invoke that feeling? Editor: It's hard to say for sure, but photography often engages with representations of place, and how commerce shapes our environments. There's a definite tension between the familiar and the alien here. Curator: Absolutely. It's the commercial space, but removed somehow, allowing for a meditation on consumerism, perhaps, or just the simple beauty of an organized space ready for... nothing. Editor: It leaves you with many thoughts about the transient nature of these spaces and the objects within. A powerful statement, intended or not.