U.S. Highway 90, New Orleans, Louisiana 2015

Editor: Joshua Dudley Greer’s photograph, "U.S. Highway 90, New Orleans, Louisiana," shows a tent beneath a highway overpass, adorned with a Christmas tree. What strikes me is the juxtaposition of resilience and despair. What symbols stand out to you? Curator: The Christmas tree is undeniably poignant. It’s a powerful symbol of hope and tradition, placed in a space of marginalization. The tent itself, a temporary shelter, becomes a modern-day symbol of fragility and displacement, wouldn’t you agree? Editor: Absolutely. The overpass seems to loom over everything. Curator: Indeed, the overpass architecture looms as a double-edged symbol. It offers shelter, yet it also represents the infrastructure of a society that, for some, offers no firm foundation. How do these symbols resonate with you? Editor: I see the visual contrast now, the holidays juxtaposed with the everyday reality of homelessness. Curator: Exactly. The cultural memory of what the holidays "should be" clashes with the lived experience depicted here. It reminds us to look deeper. Editor: This has offered a whole new lens through which to view the image. Curator: And that's the power of images, isn’t it? They hold layers of meaning that shift depending on the viewer and their perspective.