Untitled (paramedics loading stretcher into ambulance) c. 1950

Curator: This is an untitled photograph by Jack Gould, from the collection of the Harvard Art Museums. It depicts paramedics loading a stretcher into an ambulance. Editor: It feels…urgent. The high contrast and the almost frantic composition make me think of a noir film still. Curator: The visible Kodak branding along the image edge provides insight into its production. It speaks to the accessibility and standardization of photographic materials. Editor: True, but to me, the reversed image makes it seem like we’re seeing an alternate reality, some inverted drama played out in a dark mirror. Curator: And yet, the labor is palpable, the social reality unavoidable. The paramedics' attire suggests a particular time period. Editor: It’s funny, despite the chaos, there's a strange beauty to the symmetry of the windows behind them. Life imitating art, or the other way around, I guess!