This is one of my favorite images of all time. The light, the look in the mother's eyes and the cracking paint in the background gives you a great deal of information in one image.  

I called my seven year old son and asked him to describe this picture.  Interestingly he first mentioned the cat, the baby and the mother which would be the three key elements of the shot.  I asked him how he knew it was a mother, and his answer was that she was near the baby and the way she was looking at the baby.  

When I asking him about the peeling paint on the wall, he answered that it was sad. I thought he meant the image, and I asked him why would it be sad with the smile on the mother's face. He answered that the baby, mother and cat are happy but the place is sad. Interesting perspective from a seven year old!

My view on this image is a bit different.  I see this as a intimate picture, taken by a father of his wife and child. They are starting out in life together, money is tight as reveled by the paint and the simple bed cover. But they have a pet cat, one they like a great deal as it sits close to the baby, which transmits the sense of peace. They are not struggling but are merely starting out, with little but with some. 

This reminds me of my own life as a first time father, limited funds, but a comfortable outlook on life. Amazed and humbled at the creation of a new life, how the universe entrusted such a young couple with a child. The devotion to that child and the realization of complete dependency that the child will have on the parents for the next several years. 

All of this emotion and memories are why I love this image. But lets take a deep dive into what really makes this work!

Lets begin with what my sone first noticed...the cat. I dug a little into the cat theme in art and found an amazing amount of material. To begin with, the cat appears to be the pet of choice for the majority of artists.  No one knows why, but their is a belief that cats are closer to their wild counterparts than dogs are.  Artists perhaps see this and are more attuned with that aspect of the creature's nature.

Or perhaps it is because artists like to be free, and a dog requires some commitment. You can leave a cat for a few days at home without much concern. They will wander the neighborhood and find friends. All they need is some food and water.  They do not need the owner.  A dog suffers without its pack.

In any event, the cat is usually portrayed in art in a clam scene. Cats do not like noise. the done like movement. They stay where they feel warm, safe and quiet. 

Having the cat in the image gives us a sense of peace. The cats is actually a black blob on the bottom left hand side of the image. The only reason we know it is a cat is because of the silhouette of the ears. But we do not see the cats face. We do not know what the cat is thinking, but we know the cat is looking at the mother and child.

The baby is next in my son's eye. The babies carefully laid on top of smaller sheets.  One would assume cotton, soft sheets for the baby to be clean and comfortable. We do not see the baby's face, but she is looking up at the mother. We assume she is sleeping or smiling at the mother's face. 

All we see of her is the soft lines of her legs, back and feet. We see her plump, as all healthy babies should be, and we see her sleeping or resting happily. 

It is an unusual portrait of the baby and she is not held in her mother's arms, or any other traditional mother and child portrait. She lays resting on a bed but clearly well loved.

Then we go to the mother, a young Lucienne Mathews who is looking amazing in the post birth glow. Her face is showing absolute devotion and amazement at her little baby. The amazement that she helped create the wonderful baby. The knowledge that the baby is completely dependent on her, and the mother's willingness to sacrifice so much of who she is for the care of the baby.

This is the classic view of the mother. We do not see the lack of sleep, the frustration and the rattled nerves. All parents know these emotions, but we all remember this emotion, this face, the face of happiness, pride and humility that all parents share.

Lucienne is young, strong and with that gaze, caring. Regardless of the surroundings, this expression gives us a sense of love, of safety and happiness.

We then look around the image to get a feel of the scene, to put what we are feeling into context. The peeling 1950's paint on the wall is very powerful. It highlights a few possibilities, is the family on hard times, is it a rental property that is not well kept or is it a sign of a family just starting out. Not having the money or interest in spending the money on painting walls. 

The paint shows us that this family is not well off, they have limited means. It could be part of a miserable image, one of decay, hunger or strife. But set in this scene, it is one of humble beginnings and of hope. Hope that while the family is starting off humbly, there is a brighter future.

The dress and fall off of light. The photo is naturally lighted by a window off to the left of the image.  The lighting drifts off to dark shadows but the middle of the image, and then falls off to black. But before it does, we get the highlight of Lucienne's dress. The checkered pattern works so wonderfully well in monochrome images. It is a simple dress, that fits well with the overall scene of a family just starting out. 

As the lighting fades to black, it highlights the intimate scene of the image. This is the photographer opening a door and allowing us to see an intimate moment in his family. The door is opened, not to give us a peek but to proudly show us the start of his family. The lighting conveys a softness to the scene and a privacy. It was not lit for our observation, we were allowed to see what was there.