Untitled (businesspeople at desks in Mercantile Exchange auditorium) c. 1950

Curator: It's hard to miss the slightly eerie atmosphere of this small gelatin silver print at the Harvard Art Museums. It's an untitled piece by Jack Gould showing businesspeople at desks in what looks like a Mercantile Exchange auditorium. Editor: My first thought is it looks like an office of ghosts! All these figures hunched over, with this strange washed-out light. It's unsettling, yet compelling. Curator: Absolutely! Think about these exchanges. They were masculine-dominated spaces buzzing with information and risk. This photo captures the pre-digital intensity. You can almost feel the tension hanging in the air. Editor: And the composition amplifies that, doesn't it? The rows of desks recede into the distance, like a grid imprisoning these figures. It makes you wonder about the human cost of high finance. Curator: It’s a fascinating perspective, and it encourages us to really think about the spaces we occupy. Editor: It's a reminder that even in the most seemingly sterile environments, there are stories of ambition and anxiety unfolding.