Untitled (bridal party portrait with parents) c. 1945

Curator: This photograph, currently held in the Harvard Art Museums, is titled "Untitled (bridal party portrait with parents)" by John Deusing. Editor: It's strikingly ghostly. The inversion of light gives everyone an ethereal, almost otherworldly quality. What can you tell me about it? Curator: It's interesting to consider the social function of such images. Wedding portraits cement social bonds, publicly legitimizing relationships and families. Editor: And the materials are fascinating here – a photographic negative, rather than a print. It makes you think about the layers of production in image making, and the chemical processes involved in fixing a moment in time. Curator: Indeed, this also reveals the power of photography in shaping social memory and constructing idealized narratives around marriage. Editor: Looking at it again I can't help but wonder what kind of labor went into the making of the bridal gown. Curator: Well, in the end, it offers a glimpse into a specific social ritual frozen in time, however ghostly. Editor: Exactly, I'm left thinking about the material and social processes behind this image.