Untitled (portrait of boy and two girls) c. 1950

Editor: So this is an untitled photograph of a boy and two girls by John Howell. It's gelatin silver print, small, almost like a snapshot. I'm struck by how ghostly it feels because it is a negative. What do you see in it? Curator: Ghostly is right! It whispers of forgotten moments, doesn't it? The reversed tones give it a dreamlike quality, like a memory half-remembered. It makes me wonder about Howell himself, capturing these children, freezing a moment in their lives, unaware, perhaps, that we'd be peering into it like this. What do you think they dreamed of? Editor: I hadn't thought about their dreams... It definitely adds another layer. Thanks!