Gary Lee Boas

In 1966, Gary Lee Boas walked past the hospital in his hometown of Lancaster, Pa., and noticed a commotion of popping flashbulbs. "They were photographing a person I recognized as being a singer I saw on 'The Mike Douglas Show,' " he says. "Well, it was Robert Goulet. I didn't know his name, but I knew it was someone famous." Fifteen years old and starved for the slightest brush with fame, Boas ran home, grabbed his cheap Brownie Hawkeye camera and returned to the hospital.

All forms of portraiture are based on the idea that it's possible to capture that certain something that makes each of us unique. For a painter or photographer, the goal is to make an image that comes alive when viewers stand before it. That's also what happens when children play with toys. Entire worlds appear in their imaginations, where complex narratives unfold with the greatest of ease.