Untitled (girl lying on floor with book) c. 1950

Curator: This is an untitled photograph by Lucian and Mary Brown, currently held at the Harvard Art Museums. It captures a girl lying on the floor with a book. Editor: It gives me this odd sense of intimacy, like stumbling upon a private moment, but the negative space and starkness makes me feel kind of uneasy too. Curator: The image's power comes in part from the tension between domesticity and artifice. Notice the labor involved in staging such a seemingly candid shot; the framing and the unusual negative processing transform an ordinary scene. Editor: I see that. It’s funny, isn’t it? How everyday life can be so carefully constructed, even in a photograph that seems so…raw. Curator: Exactly, and that tension highlights how photographic materials and processes are employed to both record and shape our understanding of childhood. Editor: Looking at it this way makes me rethink the surface simplicity of a child reading. It's really about the layers of intent in image-making itself. Curator: Absolutely. A simple scene revealing the complexity of art making. Editor: It will stick with me, this image. The ordinary made profound through their particular lens.