Untitled (fifteen babies in cribs in hospital) 1946

Curator: This photograph, taken by Jack Gould, presents us with a rather stark scene: fifteen babies in cribs within a hospital setting. The image is simply titled "Untitled (fifteen babies in cribs in hospital)." Editor: The gridded composition, the sterile lighting, and the negative image itself feel unsettling—almost dystopian. The babies seem like commodities on display. Curator: Indeed. The photograph invites commentary on institutional care, the medicalization of childbirth, and the societal structures surrounding infancy. Consider the labor involved: the nurses, the infrastructure, and the policies that dictate such environments. Editor: Absolutely. And the materials used—the metal cribs, the fabrics, even the photographic emulsion—speak volumes about mass production and standardization in healthcare. It flattens these children into identical objects. Curator: It's a powerful statement about how societal systems can depersonalize individuals, even at their most vulnerable. Editor: It makes you think about what is lost when care becomes regimented. Curator: A chilling, if necessary, look at the systems we create.