Untitled (very young girl and baby boy posed looking at one another on couch) 1954

Curator: This is an untitled photograph by Martin Schweig, housed here at the Harvard Art Museums. It depicts a young girl and baby boy on a couch. Editor: It strikes me immediately as a study in contrasts. The children are so soft, yet the photographic negative is stark. Curator: Indeed. Schweig's choice of photographic materials – the film, the developing process – speaks to the era's photographic conventions and the democratization of image-making. Editor: And the backdrop! A mural perhaps? The material production of domesticity on display. The children become another layer within this constructed scene. Curator: Perhaps Schweig aimed to capture the innocence of childhood within the context of social constructs. The staged setting certainly suggests an intentionality. Editor: Well, it certainly makes you think about childhood then and now, and how materials and environments shape our early experiences. Curator: It gives us insight into the past but also makes us question the values of the present, right?