Untitled (two zebras at zoo) c. 1950

Curator: Here we have Jack Gould's "Untitled (two zebras at zoo)," a small gelatin silver print, only about six by six centimeters, housed at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: Striking! There's a ghostly quality to it, with the inverted tones—it almost feels like a dream sequence or an apparition. Curator: The reversal certainly emphasizes the graphic nature of the zebra’s stripes, playing with positive and negative space. Look at how the fence bisects the frame, creating layers. Editor: And the composition draws the eye from the front zebra, so calm and direct, to the one behind it, partially obscured, giving a sense of depth. It makes me think about confinement, yet a strangely beautiful one. Curator: Yes, perhaps Gould is inviting us to consider the tension between the wild and the captive, the seen and the unseen. Editor: It's a powerful statement packed into such a small frame, isn't it? Curator: Absolutely; it leaves you pondering the nuances long after you've walked away.