Untitled (man and woman on couch holding baby and doll) c. 1950

Curator: At the Harvard Art Museums we have an intriguing photographic negative, credited to Lucian and Mary Brown, titled "Untitled (man and woman on couch holding baby and doll)". The dimensions are approximately 10 by 13 centimeters. It's oddly intimate, isn't it? Editor: It is. I wonder, what kind of labor and materials would have been needed to produce this object? Is it a family portrait, or something more staged? Curator: Knowing the Browns were African American photographers, I wonder how their studio and clientele participated in shaping representations of Black families in their community? Editor: Exactly! The setting suggests a middle-class aspiration, yet the reversed tones add a layer of abstraction, almost challenging the traditional portrait's social function. Curator: Indeed. It invites us to rethink not just the image itself, but the network of social practices that surrounded its production. Editor: The family might have had agency in determining the composition, which affects the artwork. A fascinating insight.