Untitled (child playing with saw in toolshed) 1964

Curator: This is an "Untitled" photograph by Jack Gould, housed here at the Harvard Art Museums. Note the scene: a child holding a saw in front of what looks to be a tool shed. Editor: It's intriguing, the scale. Everything feels tactile, worn. The tools look like they’ve been used. The child looks like they want to use them. Curator: Exactly. Gould is capturing a moment of access and play. Consider the socialization happening. Tools, traditionally masculine, are being explored by a child, perhaps challenging gendered expectations. Editor: And the tools themselves! Look at the organization, the display. This isn’t just about the child, but about the materials and their arrangement, reflecting perhaps a bygone era of meticulous craft. Curator: It does bring up questions about labor, doesn't it? And how we pass on skills, and stories, through objects like these. Editor: Definitely. It makes you think about the lost art of making and repairing. This image reminds us that objects carry histories, and even a simple saw can spark a complex narrative.