Untitled (boy scout in uniform with badges) 1938

Curator: This photograph by John Deusing, held at the Harvard Art Museums, captures a boy scout in uniform, covered in badges. The date is unknown, but the image is striking. Editor: The inverted tones give it an eerie, almost ghostly presence, don't you think? It’s like a repressed memory surfacing, those badges heavy with unspoken histories of masculinity and nation. Curator: It's powerful how the badges, symbols of achievement and belonging, become almost suffocating in their abundance. What does it mean to earn and display these symbols of belonging? Editor: Exactly! The image prompts a larger discussion of the Boy Scouts' role in shaping boys into men and promoting specific ideals, sometimes at the expense of others. It makes me think about nationalism, colonialism, and exclusion. Curator: I see it, the weight of expectation. Still, there is something beautiful in the earnestness on his face, that youthful ambition. Editor: Maybe, but I can't help but read the shadows behind that earnestness. The photo is a reminder that even innocence is not immune to ideology. Curator: True. Perhaps it is less about the individual and more about the system they represent. Editor: Precisely. It challenges us to reflect on the complexities of identity formation within historical and social contexts.