Untitled (boy drawing at table) c. 1950

Curator: Welcome. We’re looking at a work from the Harvard Art Museums, an untitled photograph by Lucian and Mary Brown, depicting a boy drawing at a table. Editor: It’s almost dreamlike. The stark contrast makes it feel like a memory, a bit ghostly, or maybe an X-ray of a forgotten childhood moment. Curator: The negative image certainly contributes to that feeling. Consider how the Browns, as a photographic duo, were capturing everyday life, imbuing it with a certain ethereal quality through technique. Editor: There's something so intimate about watching someone create. Makes you wonder what the boy is drawing, what world he's lost in. Is he aware he is being watched? Curator: Perhaps that's the point. Photography, especially then, held a unique power to observe and document, raising questions about privacy, and the gaze. Editor: It makes me feel strangely nostalgic. I want to flip the colors and see it as it's meant to be seen, like finally understanding a secret.