Housing, Conditions: United States. New Jersey. Newark: Housing Conditions in Newark, New Jersey: The health and safety of the inhabitants of a municipality may be menaced by laxness of neighboring communities. c. 1903

Curator: This is Jessie Tarbox Beals's "Housing, Conditions: United States. New Jersey. Newark: Housing Conditions in Newark, New Jersey," a photograph mounted on board. Editor: It’s bleak, isn't it? The way the two images are juxtaposed makes you think about how connected—or disconnected—urban and rural realities were back then. Curator: Precisely. Beals uses sharp contrast and framing to highlight disparities. Note the deliberate composition: the street scene, lined with buildings, versus the open, almost desolate field. Editor: Right, it's like two sides of the same coin. One image shows the promise of the city, the other, its unfulfilled potential. The stream looks like a metaphor for life draining away. Curator: And that connection to health, implied in the title, really speaks to Beals's interest in social reform. She used her camera as a tool for advocacy. Editor: Makes you wonder what Beals would think if she could see Newark today. Curator: Indeed, a powerful image prompting a sobering reflection.