Defectives, Epileptics: United States. Massachusetts. Palmer. State Hospital for Epileptics: Graduate Nurses - Plaster Paris Jacket. c. 1907

Curator: This photograph, of unknown date, is titled "Defectives, Epileptics: United States. Massachusetts. Palmer. State Hospital for Epileptics: Graduate Nurses - Plaster Paris Jacket." It’s attributed to Woodhead Studio. Editor: The composition is stark, almost clinical. The muted sepia tones give it a distant, historical feel, but the figures are arranged with a strangely compelling symmetry. Curator: Indeed. It's a chilling glimpse into the treatment of epilepsy. The plaster jacket, used to control seizures, becomes a symbol of confinement and the medical gaze. This image speaks volumes about the institutionalization and dehumanization of those deemed "defective" during that era. Editor: You’re right. Focusing on the purely visual, the light is also very intriguing, how it catches on the white uniforms and accentuates the almost sculptural quality of the figures. Curator: And the fact that the nurses are the subjects, too—it shows how enmeshed they were in this system, complicit in its practices. Editor: I am struck by the many layers of meaning a single image like this can hold. Curator: It certainly asks us to consider the ethical dimensions of medical history.