Untitled (boy with Christmas presents on couch) c. 1950

Editor: This is an Untitled photograph by Lucian and Mary Brown, showing a boy with Christmas presents. It's small, only about 4x5 inches, and it's printed as a negative. What do you make of the everyday scene? Curator: The image, presented as a negative, makes us consider the photographic process itself. The labor involved in its making, the accessibility of the materials to the artists, and how that process captures and potentially alters our perception of the depicted domestic scene, the boy with his gifts. Editor: That's interesting. So it's not just *what* is shown, but how it's made that matters? Curator: Precisely. The means of production shape the meaning we derive. This challenges the separation between art and the everyday. Editor: I never thought about photography like that before! Thanks.