Untitled (two photographs: group portrait of nineteen member family posed in front of fireplace; double portrait of baby boy and baby girl sitting in large chair) after 1930

Editor: This is an untitled photographic print by Martin Schweig, showing two images: a large family portrait, and then two portraits of babies. What strikes me is the contrast between the posed formality of the family and the more candid, almost playful, images of the children. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see a fascinating commentary on social roles and expectations within the family structure. Look at the rigid hierarchy in the group portrait—the elders centered, everyone carefully positioned. Then, consider the babies, their images almost mirror images and turned upside down, perhaps suggesting a disruption of that established order. What does this contrast tell us about Schweig's view of family and identity? Editor: So you’re saying the artist might be using the babies to question those rigid family roles? I hadn’t considered that. Curator: Precisely. It prompts us to consider how ideas of family have been historically constructed, and whose voices are centered or marginalized within them. Editor: That is very interesting! I learned a lot today.