Manufactures Building, from Casino, World's Columbian Exposition 1894

Curator: This is William Henry Jackson's photograph, "Manufactures Building, from Casino, World's Columbian Exposition." Editor: It feels...stark. Almost ghostly. The architecture is grand, but the monochrome flattens it, gives it this uncanny sense of scale. Curator: Indeed. Jackson captured this at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, a moment of immense industrial optimism, but that optimism was built on the backs of marginalized communities. Editor: You're right. There's a tension. It's like the photo is both celebrating progress and silently acknowledging the cost, a price still felt today. Like a forgotten utopia. Curator: Precisely. The image becomes a site of contestation, revealing the complexities of American identity. Editor: Looking at it now, I feel a strange mix of awe and discomfort. A reminder that progress isn't always what it seems.