In honor of Mother's Day, I thought I would highlight some photographs from our Herzberg Collection. Irving I. Herzberg was an amateur photographer who took thousands of pictures of the people of Brooklyn. His photographs captured everyday life throughout the borough, but he excelled at informal portraits - on the bus, subway, at the beach, people usually lost in thought.
In these closeups of mothers and children, Herzberg, through superb composition, conveys a quiet moment, where the mother at least for the time being is at rest.
Each is reflective and still, each within her own world. But instead of depicting isolation, the connection with her child is unmistakable.
Like a modern day Mary Cassatt, Herzberg uses the arm around the shoulder, the head on a lap, to convey the intimacy, support, and love that exist between these mothers and their children.
He provides us a window to look into the lives of these Brooklyn mothers, if only for a moment.
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