Untitled (boy with baseball bat) c. 1950

Curator: This intriguing little photograph, "Untitled (boy with baseball bat)" by Lucian and Mary Brown, really messes with your eyes, doesn’t it? It's a photographic negative, held at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: Yes, the high contrast and reversed tones give it such an eerie, almost ghostlike quality. It also makes me think about the ways we look at the past, memory, and how those things can be easily turned on their heads. Curator: It's a strange image in that the boy is suspended in time, waiting for a pitch that will never come. It’s charged with latent energy; the innocence of youth with this shadow play creates a captivating tension. Editor: I agree. Seeing photography used like this, as a tool for exploring themes of childhood and vulnerability, makes you wonder what else Brown was exploring in this medium. I find it quite moving. Curator: Absolutely, and what does it say about the cultural significance of baseball at the time? It's fascinating how this simple image resonates on so many levels. Editor: It does; the piece remains so ambiguous. I leave with more questions than answers, which, in my mind, is a sign of really great art.