Jules Aaron, Untitled, 1947-1976. Photograph; The Boston Public Library.

Jules Aaron, Untitled, 1947-1976. Photograph; The Boston Public Library.

Isn’t this photograph beautiful? I don’t even know how to describe how much I love it.

About a month ago, I went to Boston and my friend showed me her favorite place–The Boston Public Library. I have always walked past it, never went in. But they had an exhibition on the third floor and she really wanted to see it.

Jules Aaron is actually a famous physicist, known for his work on radio-waves. But he is also an accomplished photographer. Although raised in New York, he was very fond of Boston (went to school at Boston University) and spent most of his life there. He most especially enjoyed taking photographs of the ethnic diversity of the North End, West End, and the South End.

This photo encapsulates so many things I love–the 50′s, Boston, old Chevrolets, the fashion. It so smoothly captures the attitude of the men, as they all look in one direction, even the man in the back. But the incongruence of the man in the middle, the only one with his shirt unbuttoned and the only one with a print on his shirt and the only one not looking in the same direction. I wish I could go back in time and see what they are looking at, drive in that Chevrolet with them, and learn who they are. And isn’t a photograph supposed to make you want to do that?

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