Untitled (family portrait with many dogs and puppies) 1962

Editor: This photo, "Untitled (family portrait with many dogs and puppies)" by Lucian and Mary Brown, is quite striking with its reversed tones. It seems like everyone, including the family dog, is holding puppies! What can you tell us about this image? Curator: It's fascinating to consider the means of production here. This is clearly a photographic negative. What materials were used to create this image? And how does that inform the social context of family portraiture at that time? It speaks to labor, doesn't it? Editor: It does! I hadn't thought about it that way. The act of taking and developing the photo becomes part of the story. Curator: Precisely. It challenges our notions of preciousness and uniqueness in art, highlighting the processes of making and consumption. Editor: Thanks, that makes me think differently about the choices that were made and what this represents.