The Beatles 1965

Curator: Editor: Here we have an unassuming 1965 gelatin-silver print entitled "The Beatles" held here at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. What strikes me is that, despite the fame of the subject, we see them from the back, anonymous figures against this very ordinary brick building. How do you interpret this work? Curator: Well, it immediately brings to mind the commodification of celebrity and the performance of identity. Here, The Beatles, icons of counter-culture, are presented in a way that subverts their public persona. By obscuring their faces, the photograph confronts the very notion of "the Beatles" as a fixed, easily digestible image. Do you see how this challenges the way we often consume celebrity? Editor: That's interesting, I hadn't thought of it that way. I was also wondering about the setting. Why choose such an ordinary location, instead of say, a concert stage, or something a little more glamorous? Curator: Precisely. The banality of the setting forces us to reconsider their perceived "otherness". By placing them in such a commonplace setting, are we perhaps being asked to question the societal structures that elevate certain individuals to celebrity status while simultaneously expecting them to remain relatable? This contrast encourages us to critically examine the power dynamics between the artist, the audience, and the broader cultural landscape. Consider how this image, through its deliberate subversion of expectation, subtly critiques the very system that created The Beatles. Editor: I see, it is making me consider this era with a different lens. So what's left if we take away the easily-consumed celebrity image? Curator: Exactly. It invites introspection on fame and societal pressures, shifting our gaze to systems of power, representation, and the complexities that come with being both ordinary and extraordinary in a celebrity-obsessed world. Editor: This makes the photo a lot more than just a picture of a famous band. Curator: Agreed, I see it as an opportunity to question how we all play roles. The setting also seems to imply a statement on consumer culture by being seemingly removed from it.