Untitled (girl in corral with horse and first place award) 1975

Editor: This silver gelatin print by Ken Whitmire Associates depicts a girl and her horse, proudly displaying their first-place award. The scene feels almost like a staged tableau. What can you tell me about it? Curator: Looking at this image through a materialist lens, I’m drawn to the labor involved in creating this image and participating in this activity, from the horse's training to the photographic process. The framing emphasizes the material conditions of leisure and labor. What do you think? Editor: That’s interesting. It highlights the social context and the economic background of the subjects in a way I hadn't considered. Curator: Exactly. It invites us to consider whose labor is made visible and whose is obscured. The photograph itself becomes a commodity, documenting and reinforcing a particular social narrative. Editor: Thanks, that really changes my perspective!