Untitled (two girls in matching dresses posed looking at each other on living room couch) 1958

Editor: This intriguing, undated photograph by Martin Schweig, held at the Harvard Art Museums, pictures two young girls in matching dresses. The negative's ghostly light lends it a sense of lost innocence. What symbols resonate with you in this scene? Curator: The matching dresses immediately signify unity, conformity. Yet, the girls gaze directly at one another, creating a closed circle of shared experience, of secrets. The domestic setting, though, speaks to the cultural expectations placed upon young women even then. Are they embracing or resisting this mirrored image? Editor: It's hard to tell! Maybe both? I hadn't considered the societal expectations baked into the image. Curator: Indeed, the photograph becomes a mirror reflecting not just the girls, but also the viewer's own cultural memory and assumptions.