Untitled (portrait of boy made for doctor) c. 1950

This is an undated photograph by Robert Burian, of a young boy, made, as the title tells us, for a doctor. The high contrast image reverses light and dark, giving the boy an otherworldly appearance, his eyes glowing with a strange intensity. I wonder what the doctor was hoping to see in this image? What health condition might the photo reveal? There’s something both clinical and deeply personal about it. The boy is dressed in his best jacket, looking straight at the camera, and us. I’m touched by the collaboration between the photographer, the doctor, and the child. They made this together. It reminds me of other portraits where artists try to capture not just a likeness, but a sense of someone’s inner life, or even a moment in time. I always think of artists working in conversation with each other, trying to understand what it means to be human, and how we can see each other, really see each other.