Untitled (portrait of man in cowboy hat) 1970

Editor: So, here we have an untitled portrait of a man in a cowboy hat by Ken Whitmire Associates. It’s a small photograph, and I'm struck by how…ordinary it feels. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Ordinary? Perhaps on the surface. But look closer. That hat, the slight smirk, the worn denim – it’s a study in American masculinity. What story is he not telling, do you think? Editor: I hadn't considered it that way. Maybe it’s about the performance of that masculinity, and how it's subtly shifting? Curator: Precisely! It's a lovely time capsule, isn't it? Makes you wonder what stories are hiding in plain sight all around us.