Portrait of a Young Boy with a Duck Pull-toy c. 1940s

Wayne Albee made this photograph, Portrait of a Young Boy with a Duck Pull-toy, probably in the early 20th century. It’s a small gelatin silver print, and the tones are really subtle, shifting from light to dark with barely perceptible gradations. I can only imagine what Albee felt when he took the photograph of the little boy on the beach. He is pulling a toy duck; the ocean is calm and the light, soft. I think about what it must have been like to watch him play. I’m fascinated by the contrast of textures here - the boy’s soft skin, the grainy sand, and the rippling water. Albee has captured a fleeting moment with incredible precision. His composition has a natural, unposed quality, reminiscent of some of the impressionist painters. Photographers learn a lot from painting and vice versa, and art is one big ongoing conversation across generations. What I think is so special about Albee's photograph is that, like all great works of art, it invites you to slow down and look carefully. It encourages you to appreciate the world around you and maybe even to remember the joy of childhood.