Untitled (man wearing "Cities Service" hat) c. 1945

This photograph of a man wearing a "Cities Service" hat by Robert Burian lives at the Harvard Art Museums. It's a small thing, only a few inches, but the scale feels right for the image. I can imagine Robert, shrouded under the black cloth, carefully composing this shot, waiting for just the right moment to capture the man's likeness. The negative tonality is striking. It's like a ghostly mirror reflecting not just an image, but perhaps also an echo of a bygone era. You know, the way the inverted tones highlight the textures of the man’s jacket, the subtle creases around his eyes, and the confident set of his shoulders—these are the details that bring him to life. I wonder what the man thought of the photo at the time. Or if he even saw it. Photography, like painting, is an act of translation. It’s about observing, interpreting, and preserving a moment in time. And it’s an ongoing conversation between the artist, the subject, and now, us.