Untitled (exterior of Garrison style two-story house) c. 1950

Robert Burian created this untitled gelatin silver print, depicting the exterior of a Garrison-style two-story house. Without a known date, we might speculate about its cultural context and the identity it represents. The Garrison style, popular in mid-20th century America, speaks to a certain aspiration for suburban domesticity. In an inverted black and white print, however, this familiar image is alienated from its original associations. The house, typically a symbol of stability and the American dream, appears haunted, or at least, uncanny. Consider the emotional weight of ‘home’ – a place of safety, but also a site of labor, and for many, a space shaped by complex social and economic forces. Burian’s photograph invites us to consider the intersectional layers embedded in such a seemingly simple subject, disrupting the traditional narrative of suburban comfort.