Untitled (women in front of Mercy Hall) c. 1950

Robert Burian made this gelatin silver print called "Untitled (women in front of Mercy Hall)", but we don't know when! The inverted tones and high contrast give it a dreamlike quality, like a memory or a scene from a play. The way the women are grouped together on the porch creates a sense of theatricality, as if they’re posing for a portrait or caught in a moment of quiet contemplation. It makes me wonder what's going on between them. The texture is interesting because it captures the details of the architecture and clothing, but it also flattens everything out. The shadows and highlights are exaggerated, which adds to the surreal feeling of the photograph. This reminds me of some of the early surrealist photographers like Man Ray, who were experimenting with light and shadow to create strange and unsettling images. Ultimately, this photograph, like a dream, embraces ambiguity.