Untitled (child and cat) 1971

Curator: Susan Gittleman's "Untitled (child and cat)" presents a ghostly vision in monochrome. The print, now housed at the Harvard Art Museums, captures a figure and animal bathed in light. What are your first thoughts? Editor: It feels incredibly fragile, almost ephemeral. The lack of sharp definition renders the subjects vulnerable, existing within a liminal space. It definitely evokes memory and loss. Curator: The soft focus is quite deliberate, I think. Consider the labor involved in achieving that effect in the darkroom. Gittleman would have spent considerable time manipulating the materials to achieve this specific ethereal quality. Editor: Absolutely. And beyond the technical process, there's a potent commentary on the fleeting nature of childhood, the blurring of boundaries between human and animal, and the quiet disruptions within domestic spaces. Curator: I agree. By engaging with the materials and the production process we can also consider the ways in which Gittleman is making visible the unseen labor and the emotional value of these connections. Editor: It leaves you contemplating the intersections of identity and the power of representation, doesn't it? Curator: Indeed. It invites us to consider the many hidden processes involved in both seeing and making.