Untitled (carriage tracks) n.d.

Editor: This albumen print, simply called "Untitled (carriage tracks)," captures a street scene seemingly from the late 19th century. I’m really struck by how the parallel tracks lead your eye straight into the heart of the cityscape, hinting at a bustling life even with the quiet stillness of the photograph. What stands out to you in this piece? Curator: Those tracks, incised again and again, function almost as runes. Consider how they narrate a story of repetition, of countless journeys, subtly mapping community and commerce. But more than just depicting movement, don't they evoke memory itself? Editor: Memory? In what sense? Curator: Think of how places accumulate meaning. Each passage over this street etches the path deeper, solidifying collective experience. The photographer isn't just recording a street, but also the emotional weight borne upon it. Those houses in the background, too-- their architectures encode social and historical values. Editor: So, the "realism" isn't just about accurate representation, but also capturing cultural history. It makes you think about where these carriages were headed… Curator: Exactly! And note the lone figure in the distance. A tiny human form dwarfed by architecture and embedded in a landscape molded by traffic and history. The photograph then becomes a mirror reflecting identity within a developing urban space. What is "urban" memory for us, then? Are our routes, etched daily, becoming our runes? Editor: That’s a very powerful thought, considering how photographs were quite new when this was made. They were building their own kind of memory-making machine! Curator: Yes, photographs became powerful artifacts imbued with the desire to not just capture moments but shape how we collectively remember and understand our surroundings. Editor: That totally changes how I see this photograph, it’s more than just a snapshot.