Tree #218 Tremont St. on Mall of Common 14 - 1894

Curator: Here we have Paul Rowell's "Tree #218 Tremont St. on Mall of Common," a glass plate photograph housed here at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It's beautifully eerie, like a ghostly stage set. The inverted tones give everything a strange, luminous quality. Curator: Exactly. The photographic negative transforms the familiar Boston Common into something otherworldly. Think about what was happening then; photography was democratizing portraiture, challenging traditional painting. Editor: It's like Rowell found a hidden dimension within a very public, political space. The way the bare branches reach into the sky, they're almost like veins searching for light. Curator: The stark contrast highlights the tension between nature and urban development, a common theme at the time as cities expanded. Editor: For me, it’s a reminder that even in the most ordinary places, you can find unexpected beauty, even a little magic, if you just shift your perspective. Curator: An excellent point, a single frame can speak volumes.