Old furniture before 1881

This is "Old Furniture," an undated photograph by John Thomson. It's part of a series documenting the lives of those living in poverty in London during the late 19th century. The image shows a sparsely furnished room with two women; the setting is a far cry from the opulent interiors often depicted in art of the time. Thomson's photographs were radical because they aimed to challenge the prevailing social norms by documenting the lives of marginalized communities. The "old furniture" serves as a visual code, pointing to the economic conditions of the subjects. Thomson's work coincided with the rise of social reform movements in England. By using photography as a tool for social commentary, Thomson was contributing to a broader cultural conversation about poverty, class, and the responsibility of the state. To better understand Thomson's photographs, you can delve into archives of social reform movements, period newspapers, and institutional records of charitable organizations. This image reminds us that the meaning of art is always contingent on the social and institutional context in which it is created and viewed.