Housing, Conditions: United States. New Jersey. Newark: Housing Conditions in Newark, New Jersey: IV. Unsanitary dwellings located in the same building with stables. (Source: James Ford, Housing Report to City Plan Commission of Newark, N.J., 1913) c. 1903

Editor: This photograph, taken by Jessie Tarbox Beals, is titled "Housing, Conditions: United States. New Jersey. Newark: Housing Conditions in Newark, New Jersey: IV. Unsanitary dwellings located in the same building with stables." It looks like it documents some very run-down urban housing. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see a stark indictment of the material conditions of urban life at the turn of the century. Beals is not just showing us buildings; she's exposing the physical reality of poverty, the proximity of living spaces to the means of labor and animal waste. The image is a document of social stratification embedded in the very bricks and mortar. Editor: So, it’s less about the aesthetics and more about what it tells us about society at the time? Curator: Precisely. Beals is using her craft to reveal the exploitation inherent in the production of housing and the daily lives of the working class. It makes me think of the consumption of space, and how uneven that was. Editor: That gives me a lot to think about. Thanks for pointing out the materiality of it all. Curator: My pleasure. It’s a powerful reminder of how art can serve as a form of social critique.