621 Days Old Possibly 1989 - 1998

Debora Hunter took this photo, "621 Days Old," whenever babies were still allowed to sleep in cribs full of bumpers, and rooms could be crammed with stuffed animals. The pink is laid on thick, dominating everything – walls, toys, even the light seems filtered through rose-tinted glasses. The surface is a riot of textures; soft plushies, smooth plastic toys, and the rougher grain of wooden furniture, all vying for attention. I'm struck by the contrast between the careful staging and the overwhelming chaos. The way the objects are arranged feels deliberate, yet the sheer number of items creates a sense of playful disorder. There’s a melancholic echo in Hunter's work of Nan Goldin’s documentarian portraits, only instead of intimacy, there is a profound isolation, emphasized by this room that seems to suffocate the child, even while they sleep. Maybe it’s a picture about love, maybe it’s a picture about loss, but it's definitely a picture worth pondering.