Untitled (woman holding baby in front of mirror) c. 1950

Curator: Looking at this photograph, it gives me a feeling of something simultaneously intimate and elusive. Editor: Indeed. This work, an untitled photograph, is credited to Lucian and Mary Brown and held in the Harvard Art Museums. It's a small image, only about 5 by 4 inches. Curator: The mirror reflection—it's a classic symbol, right? Self-reflection, a gateway to another world, but here, it seems more about connection, a tender moment with the baby. Editor: Yes, the mirror as a symbol of the soul is a common thread through art history. Here, though, the doubled image complicates that. It’s not just the mother looking at herself, but presenting herself, and the child, to… whom? Curator: Maybe to posterity? There is an ambiguity around that. It feels like a fleeting moment captured, yet the mirror also lends this sense of timelessness, which is such a delicious contradiction. Editor: Perhaps the Browns are pointing to the dual nature of identity. Mother, individual, reflection, reality. It invites a lot of different paths of thought. Curator: It does. I will certainly ponder on this a while longer.