Under the Candles: Mr Charles Ginner Presiding 1933

Editor: Walter Bayes's "Under the Candles: Mr Charles Ginner Presiding" pulls you into a smoky, crowded room. The atmosphere is thick with anticipation, like a still from a film. How do you read the tension in this scene? Curator: The subdued palette and the soft focus give it this dreamlike quality, don’t they? It reminds me of being backstage during a play – a kind of electric hush before the curtain rises on high drama, except here, everyone's betting on their own tiny dramas playing out on the roulette wheel. What do you think Bayes is trying to capture, beyond just a social scene? Editor: Maybe the allure and the anxiety of chance? It feels like a world away, yet intensely familiar. Curator: Exactly. Bayes is inviting us to reflect on how we engage with risk, the stories we tell ourselves about luck, all wrapped up in the glow of those candles. Isn’t it marvelous?