Tract House #4 1971

Lewis Baltz made this silver gelatin print, Tract House #4, sometime in the twentieth century. This photograph isn't really about the house, right? It's more like, what do we even call home? What do we expect from it? It's like Baltz is asking, what kind of stage set is this? And what kind of play are we putting on inside? I imagine Baltz setting up his camera, framing this house, trying to capture not just the building, but the whole vibe. Like, what's the deal with these cookie-cutter homes? Are they a dream come true, or just another kind of trap? You can see echoes of New Topographics photographers like Robert Adams or the Bechers. It makes me think about how we're all in conversation, artists riffing off each other across time and space, trying to make sense of the world.