Untitled (people sitting and drinking tea inside house) c. 1950

Editor: This intriguing untitled photograph by Lucian and Mary Brown captures a group gathered for tea. It feels almost like a stage tableau, everyone so formally posed. What draws your eye in this image? Curator: The inverted tones create a dreamlike, otherworldly quality, don't they? It's as if we're peering into a memory. Notice how the light, or lack thereof, sculpts the faces. Are they comfortable? Or is there a certain tension present? Editor: I hadn’t considered the tension. I was so focused on the oddity of the reversed colors. I guess the photo leaves you wondering. Curator: Exactly! Perhaps it’s about the quiet observations made during ordinary gatherings. Editor: I love that – ordinary gatherings, extraordinary observations!