Untitled (smiling girl) c. 1950

Editor: This is an untitled photograph by Lucian and Mary Brown, depicting a smiling girl. It's only about 4x3 inches. The high contrast gives it an eerie, almost otherworldly feel. What do you make of it? Curator: It’s funny you say eerie, because I see a memory struggling to surface. The negative space becomes a metaphor, a blank canvas upon which the viewer can project their own childhood recollections, or perhaps a collective memory of simpler times. Editor: So it's almost intentionally ambiguous? Curator: Exactly! The lack of context is the point, I think. And in that absence, we find a strange universality. What do you think that says about its artistic value? Editor: That's a really interesting perspective! I initially just saw the contrast, but now I see the potential for personal connection.