Untitled (old truck and flying bugs at night) c. 1970s

Editor: This is an Untitled photograph by John Gossage, showing an old truck. The high contrast and graininess really emphasize the stillness, making me wonder about its story. What can you tell me about it? Curator: Well, consider the material conditions of its making. The graininess comes from pushing the film, a process altering its inherent properties to capture an image in low light. The "story" isn't inherent; it's manufactured through photographic labor and technique to communicate a certain reality. Editor: So, you're saying the process of creating the photo is as important as the subject itself? Curator: Exactly. The final print is a commodity, but it’s the labor and the transformation of materials that give it meaning. Are we just consuming an image, or acknowledging the means of its production? Editor: That gives me a lot to think about; I never considered the labor involved in something that seems so simple. Curator: Indeed. It changes how we value the work, doesn't it?