Untitled (children standing on fairy-tale creature with trees in background) c. 1950

Curator: This small, square photograph at the Harvard Art Museums is simply titled "Untitled (children standing on fairy-tale creature with trees in background)," by Jack Gould. It has this eerie, inverted tonality. What's your take on it? Editor: My first thought? It feels like a half-remembered dream. The reversal gives it this unsettling otherworldliness. And what is that creature they're standing on? Curator: It's peculiar, isn't it? It reminds me of those garden sculptures, grotesque figures that guard the entrance to another world. The children positioned on top become almost heroic. Editor: Yes, the positioning is so deliberate. It's interesting how the trees behind them are mere suggestion. The dark and light contrasting makes it so stark. This evokes so many childhood memories for me. Curator: Exactly, the photograph becomes like a mythic space, and the figures feel like actors in a play only we are seeing. The inverted tones almost make me feel as if I'm looking at a memory, a recollection. Editor: Indeed. It's a fascinating little piece, full of hidden stories. Like a photographic riddle. Curator: Precisely, a tiny world demanding to be deciphered.