Untitled (children riding flat roller coaster at amusement park) 1947

Curator: This untitled photograph by Jack Gould captures children riding a flat roller coaster, and something about it feels timeless. Editor: The negative is striking! The world inverted, it almost gives a ghostly feel to the joy of the ride, while also focusing us on the materiality of the print itself. Curator: Absolutely. The reversal lends a dreamlike quality, almost like a collective memory of childhood, with the roller coaster as a symbol of transition and shared experience. Editor: And think of what the construction of such a ride meant to the local economy at the time. It's about community, labor, access to leisure. Curator: I agree. The image speaks to the cultural significance of amusement parks, places of both manufactured thrill and communal ritual. It's interesting to consider what this inverted world might say about our own relationship to those traditions. Editor: Indeed. Looking at this reminds me to think more about who built these experiences, not just who enjoyed them.