Defectives, Feeble-minded: United States. Massachusetts. Waverly. School for Feeble-minded: Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded.: Setting Up Drill. c. 1903

Editor: This photograph by William A. Webster, titled "Defectives, Feeble-minded: United States. Massachusetts. Waverly. School for Feeble-minded: Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded.: Setting Up Drill", shows a group of young people holding what appear to be rifles. The scene feels both unsettling and regimented. How should we interpret this work? Curator: The materials used to construct this image – the photographic paper, the camera, and the darkroom chemicals – all speak to a system of classification and control. The manufacturing of the image itself mirrors the attempt to manufacture obedient bodies within the school. The labor involved in producing this image underscores the institution's agenda. Editor: That's a striking way to consider the making of the photograph itself. It adds a layer of meaning I hadn't considered.