This portrait of Charles Moody's brother Frederick Shaw Moody and his young family (wife Emma Wight Moody and son Charles Frederick Moody) is an ardent tribute to the intimate family unit that consists of mother, father, and child. The close and casual poses of the figures, the network of touches and gazes among them- Frederick's gaze notably engaging the photographer-and the pattern of light and dark among their clothes serves to unify the composition. It is less a portrait of individuals than a timeless meditation on the theme of family.