Untitled (portrait of little boy with cowboy hat and toy gun) c. 1950

Curator: This photograph, "Untitled (portrait of little boy with cowboy hat and toy gun)," is by Lucian and Mary Brown. It captures a child playing, frozen in time. Editor: There’s an innocence mixed with, well, an unsettling quiet. The inverted tones give the playfulness a slightly haunting edge, like a memory fading at the edges. Curator: Indeed. This image allows us to reflect on the romanticized ideal of the American West and its impact on young minds, and the role of gender and power dynamics in play. Editor: It’s a shadow world of childhood fantasy, guns and games. The little gunslinger, caught in an act of make believe, yet it feels like more than just that, doesn't it? Curator: It does. It asks us to interrogate the narratives we pass down. Editor: A ghost of play, a whisper of cowboys.