6 Days Old Possibly 1989 - 1998

Editor: This is Debora Hunter's photograph, "6 Days Old," potentially taken between 1989 and 1998. It's a realistic portrait, deeply personal. There's something so intimate about the soft focus on the infant being held. What do you see in this piece, particularly in how it’s been produced? Curator: Well, the very act of photographing and then presenting such an image is a conscious commentary on labour—specifically, reproductive labor. Consider the maternal clothing—perhaps mass-produced, certainly practical, suggesting function over embellishment. The photographic process itself captures a moment plucked from an ongoing cycle of physical and emotional investment. The baby’s clothes also seem to signal social position, don’t they? Editor: They do. But, how much does the probable availability of cameras at the time impact the piece’s message, compared to, say, a painting of a mother and child? Curator: Precisely! The *means* of production shapes the artwork's impact. Painting is an art practice generally restricted by time and skill; anyone can produce a photograph if they have the access and the disposable income. That’s the real genius here. Its message and effect comes from its production. Editor: I hadn’t considered the everyday aspect of photography here as something with value, but it really reframes it. Curator: It disrupts our tendency to separate craft, like caretaking, from 'high' art. Hunter's lens directs us to value those daily gestures. Editor: Absolutely. Seeing it as more than a sweet picture, but as an act of recording lived, material experiences… Curator: Exactly, revealing how photography plays its part in those realities. We both came away with new eyes now!