Untitled (children playing dress-up, two girls answering door) c. 1950

Curator: Ah, yes. Jack Gould’s small, untitled photograph capturing children playing dress-up. The Harvard Art Museums hold this unassuming gem. Editor: It feels like a forgotten dream. The stark, inverted tones create an eerie stillness despite the playful subject. Curator: Precisely. The reversal of light and shadow heightens the theatricality. It's almost as if Gould captured not just a scene but the very essence of childhood imagination. Editor: A stage where costumes blur reality. It leaves you wondering about the narrative, doesn't it? Are they expecting someone important or just indulging in fantasy? Curator: Exactly. That ambiguity is the photograph's true strength. It invites us to complete the story, using memories of our own childhood games. Editor: I like that. It is like a little doorway into a shared past.