Untitled (family portrait in living room) c. 1950

Curator: The image before us, from Lainson Studios, presents an "Untitled (family portrait in living room)" and its monotone presentation, as a photographic negative, lends it a mysterious feel. Editor: Yes, the darks and lights reversed certainly give a ghostly, almost unsettling quality to this otherwise classic family tableau. The dog adds some ease, though. Curator: It's interesting to consider this image as a commercial product. What labor and materials were involved in staging this scene and producing the photograph itself? Consider the textiles of the curtain, the furniture, the clothes... Editor: And how this image, frozen in time, speaks to the idealized vision of the nuclear family, particularly its gendered roles, in mid-century America, and its relationship to class and consumerism. Curator: Exactly, and the studio's process, clearly intended to create a lasting memento, now offers us a valuable artifact for understanding that era. Editor: It really invites us to think about the stories that are told and, perhaps more importantly, those that are left out. It's a fascinating, if eerie, glimpse.