Untitled (portrait of two girls, seated) c. 1950

Curator: This arresting photograph, an untitled portrait of two girls seated, is credited to Lucian and Mary Brown. It's a vintage piece, though undated, held in the Harvard Art Museums. The dimensions are rather intimate, about 12 by 10 centimeters. Editor: Intimate, yes, but also…unsettling. The inverted tones give it an otherworldly quality. The girls' eyes, especially, seem to pierce right through you. It's ghostly, almost eerie. Curator: I see that. The negative's reversal lends a certain symbolic weight. Light and shadow are potent metaphors. Consider how this reversal might represent hidden aspects of childhood, perhaps vulnerability or even innocence lost. Editor: Or perhaps it speaks to the power dynamics inherent in portraiture itself, especially of children. Who has the power here—the photographer, the viewer, or the subjects themselves? The lack of a clear date complicates that further; what societal norms were at play? Curator: Certainly, those power dynamics are always at play. But I wonder if the Browns were also exploring a deeper, more universal theme: the ephemeral nature of memory. After all, photographs capture moments, but memories shift and fade. Editor: A haunting thought. I'm still stuck on the implications of seeing young girls presented in this spectral way, though. It’s difficult to shake off that feeling. Curator: It is a deeply affecting image, regardless. It prompts us to consider photography's capacity to reveal and conceal. Editor: Indeed. It leaves one with more questions than answers, which is, perhaps, the point.