Untitled (group portrait with bride and groom) 1945

Curator: This is an untitled photograph by John Deusing, held at the Harvard Art Museums. It appears to be a group portrait of a wedding party. Editor: It's giving me… ghost story vibes! The inverted tones create this ethereal, almost haunting mood, despite what is, presumably, a happy occasion. Curator: Indeed, the photographic negative transforms the familiar into something uncanny. Traditionally, wedding imagery is about light and hope. This evokes something of memory's inversions. Editor: Right. It's like peering into the shadow side of a cherished memory, where the joy is still present but veiled by time or perhaps even regret. It’s heavy with unspoken narratives, don't you think? Curator: The symbolism of the veil, the formal wear... these are societal scripts being played out. But the negative form complicates their intended meaning, suggesting both presence and absence. Editor: It's like, underneath all the layers of tradition and expectation, there's a whole other story struggling to be seen. I love the tension! Curator: Perhaps that is why this photograph haunts the halls of our mind, it is an image that makes the viewer remember the past.