Untitled (man sweeping trash on street) c. 1950

Curator: This untitled photograph by Jack Gould depicts a man sweeping trash on the street. The composition, with its stark contrasts, immediately gives it a feeling of urban grit. Editor: Yes, the tonal range is quite striking. The inverted image also brings a dreamlike quality to a mundane task. The sweeping motion creates a diagonal that intersects with the rigid horizontal lines of the buildings. Curator: We can think about how street cleaning as labor is represented here—both the dignity and potential drudgery. The setting—an anonymous street—focuses attention on the figure and his relationship to his work. Editor: Absolutely. The high contrast emphasizes the textures – the rough street, the pile of refuse, the man's clothing, all foregrounding the material conditions of everyday labor. Curator: And it is in considering these various elements—the composition, the tonal values, the subject matter—that we come to better appreciate the statement Gould offers about the working class experience. Editor: Indeed, this work truly underscores the poeticism of the ephemeral.