Speaking to Siri Hustvedt in her Brooklyn brownstone not long before the American presidential election, conversation naturally turns to Hillary Clinton.

Down the street from Mr. Dahill’s house, city notices and plywood affixed to brownstones denote more homes under construction.

Subsections of “Kulturgeschichte” reflect those years, notably a suite of black-and-white photographs of brownstone and tenement doorways that spans more than a hundred sheets.