Untitled (boy in cowboy costume holding gun) c. 1950

Curator: This is an Untitled gelatin silver print by Lucian and Mary Brown, depicting a boy in a cowboy costume, part of the Harvard Art Museums collection. Editor: The high contrast and reversal of tones give it such a strange, almost ghostly aura, doesn’t it? Curator: Indeed. Consider the costume: the meticulous details of the shirt, the chaps, the toy gun...it suggests a complex interplay of representation and reality, especially given the photograph’s materiality. Editor: For me, there's something about this negative image that makes it feel like a memory. Like a fleeting moment captured, or perhaps distorted, by time. Curator: Precisely. The reversal challenges our perception, prompting us to question the document’s inherent truth. Editor: It’s like the Brown’s are reminding us that every image is a construction, a story being told. Curator: Ultimately, this work encapsulates the inherent paradox of photography: its ability to both capture and alter reality. Editor: A fascinating little ghost from the past!