Untitled (postmorten - young child) c. 1940s

Curator: John Deusing's photograph, simply titled "Untitled (postmorten - young child)," certainly makes a strong first impression. Editor: Haunting, wouldn't you say? The negative image gives it an almost spectral feel. The lace detailing on the coffin seems to float. Curator: The inversion of light and shadow definitely heightens the sense of otherworldliness. Technically, the composition is quite formal, almost symmetrical. Editor: It's heartbreaking, really. Like a faded dream. I wonder what it was like to take such a photograph, to be that close to such a heartbreaking scene. Curator: Postmortem photography was, of course, a Victorian tradition, a way of memorializing the deceased. The negative printing is an interesting choice. It both reveals and obscures at the same time. Editor: It makes you wonder about the boundaries between documentation and personal expression, doesn't it? This photograph doesn't just record; it evokes. Curator: Indeed. In its starkness, Deusing's photograph compels us to confront mortality in a way that's both intimate and deeply unsettling. Editor: Yes, it stays with you long after you've turned away. A ghost in the gallery, perhaps.