The “Goings on About Town’ section of the October 20, 2014 issue of The New Yorker
opens with a large photo of an antique dress lying on a muslin covered table with small beakers and tools around it. Several pairs of disembodied hands are doing things to it. This photo is the accompanying illustration to a blurb about the “Death Becomes Her: A Century of Mourning Attire” that was to open at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that week. The photo itself has no caption or explanation—just a credit to Pari Dukovic. The person who is familiar with conservation methodology will know that the dress is undergoing either test cleaning or spot cleaning. I wonder what the uninformed person will think. A brief caption would have done so much for conservation outreach. Another a missed opportunity.
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Hi Rebecca,
Thanks for posting this! I think this is a great opportunity for someone to send a letter to the editor of the New Yorker. Would you be willing to write one to clarify what it happening in the photo that accompanies their article (which can be found at http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/20/week-13)?
For anyone who would like to write, this is how to contact the magazine:
“Letters to the editor: Please send letters to themail@newyorker.com, and include your postal address and daytime phone number. Letters may be edited for length and clarity, and may be published in any medium. All letters become the property of The New Yorker.”
Thanks!
Bonnie