in arms

These old baby pictures are always so serious-- the babies are propped uncomfortably in starchy white dresses beside handsome furniture like little adults. I like these pictures because if you pay attention you realize all these kids are in the arms of their beheaded, faded-out parents or photographer assistants, sometimes disguised as a plush bosomy chair cushion. Most of these pictures are about 100 years old, something I think about often when working with them-- few of these people are likely to still be alive. But they were all once little round things held in the laps of caretakers, and well, that's obvious but also pretty neat.