Untitled (baby in bonnet) c. 1950

Editor: This small, untitled photograph by Lucian and Mary Brown depicts a baby in a bonnet, but it's presented as a negative image. It gives it an eerie feel. What strikes you about this piece? Curator: The reversed tonality immediately makes me consider representation and visibility. Who gets memorialized, and how? The obscured details and ghostly light could be read as a commentary on the vulnerability of childhood, or even the fragility of memory itself. What power dynamics do you think are at play here? Editor: That makes me think about how we often idealize childhood. This image subverts that, presenting a more unsettling perspective. It's definitely food for thought. Curator: Exactly, it disrupts the usual sentimental narrative around childhood. Editor: I learned to consider that the absence of expected sentimental cues forces a deeper engagement with the subject. Curator: And challenges us to confront uncomfortable truths about innocence and power.