Untitled (man working on highway overpass construction) 1954

Editor: This untitled photograph by Jack Gould shows a man working on highway overpass construction. It's small, and the negative image makes it look almost apocalyptic. What do you see here? Curator: It speaks to the grand narratives of progress and infrastructure that dominated much of the 20th century. Who was this worker? The image normalizes the spectacle of infrastructure. It raises questions about labor, and the often-unseen hands that build our world. Editor: So, it's about the politics of building, not just the building itself? Curator: Exactly. How does this image contribute to or challenge the romanticizing of such large-scale interventions? Editor: I never thought about construction as something political, but this gives me a lot to consider.