North side of California street, from Sansom street, looking west 1867

Curator: This albumen print, "North side of California street, from Sansom street, looking west," was taken by Thomas Houseworth in 1867. Editor: It's so orderly. I'm immediately struck by the precise lines and rectilinear forms. The strong horizontals of the buildings against the diagonal sweep of the street create this wonderful sense of perspective. Curator: What's remarkable is how these formal qualities also represent a very specific moment in time. Consider the buildings' classical revival architecture: it’s meant to project a sense of civic authority and stability in a burgeoning city. It mirrors the ambitions and self-image of the emerging San Francisco elite. Editor: I can see that, but I'm drawn to the photographic process itself. The albumen print renders a soft, almost dreamlike quality to what is, after all, a depiction of concrete reality. The textures, the gradations of light – it gives the buildings a palpable weight. Curator: Exactly! Photography at that time wasn't just documentation. It became a way of staking claim and building cultural memory. These grand facades were visual declarations, literally and figuratively, building San Francisco’s self-image after the Gold Rush. And there is cultural significance in showing this development for later generations. Editor: The parallel tracks receding into the distance, those regular intervals—they structure not just the image but also suggest an era defined by progress and technological advancement. Curator: And they show that progress is not linear and it always comes at the expense of those on the margins. There are no people in this picture and the Indigenous people, so present until recently, are actively suppressed. Editor: A sobering reminder of what can be hidden in plain sight, even, or perhaps especially, within meticulously composed works such as these. Curator: Indeed. An image that tells a grand story but has its roots in erasure. Editor: A reminder of how important it is to consider both the surface and what lies beneath.