Untitled (family portrait, father with two sons and cat) c. 1950

Curator: This is a small, undated photograph, approximately 5 by 4 inches, by Lucian and Mary Brown. It is currently held at the Harvard Art Museums and it's titled "Untitled (family portrait, father with two sons and cat)". Editor: It strikes me as rather haunting. The reversed tones give it this strange, ethereal quality, like figures emerging from a dream—or perhaps fading into one. Curator: Yes, the process is so interesting here. The negative reveals the materiality of film—its grain, its imperfections. It’s a record of light interacting with a specific chemistry. Editor: And the family itself— the formal suits, the patterned fabrics, the almost surreal presence of the cat. All of it together suggests a story just out of reach. It's about relationships, materiality, and the very act of image-making. Curator: Precisely. The Browns give us a glimpse into a moment, preserved but altered through photographic alchemy. Editor: It leaves me pondering the many layers of representation and what it really means to capture a life.