Untitled (family portrait, man, woman, baby, Victorian style clothes, flowered wallpaper) c. 1910

Curator: What strikes me first about this Durette Studio photograph is its rather unsettling quality. The inverted tones create an eerie atmosphere. Editor: Yes, it’s a curious piece. The Harvard Art Museums hold this as an "Untitled" family portrait, rendered in a Victorian style. It’s a silver gelatin glass negative, measuring approximately 18 by 13 centimeters. Curator: The composition is meticulously arranged, from the flowered wallpaper to the positioning of the figures. Note the subtle balance achieved despite the tonal inversions. It almost feels like a stage set. Editor: I think it tells us so much about the performative nature of Victorian family life, the staged portrait being a key element in constructing and projecting a certain image of domesticity and respectability. Curator: Precisely. And on a purely formal level, that interplay of light and shadow generates an exceptional degree of visual interest, doesn’t it? Editor: It does. It is fascinating to see how photographic portraits allowed families to participate in shaping their own historical narrative.