What are the differences between photographs that are Windows and Mirrors ?

Personal visions take one of two forms. In metaphorical terms, the photograph is seen either as a mirror – a romantic expression of the photographers sensibility as it projects itself on the things and sights of this world; or as a window – through which the exterior world is explored in all its presence and reality. This was showcased in the Museum of Modern Art by John Szarkowski whose work largely reflected the subjectivity of the artist.

The distance between them is to be measured not in terms of the relative force or originally of their work, but in terms of their conceptions of what a photograph is; is it a mirror, reflecting a portrait of the artist who made it, or a window, through which one might better know the world.

– John Szarkowski

This suggests that every image is either a Mirror or a Window and looks into different areas of peoples life’s, or looks into the outside world.

Key Words

Mirrors – subjective, fiction, romanticism, tableaux, reflective, personal, internal.

Windows – objective, documentary, realism, candid, public, external, truthful.

Binary Opposites

Mirrors Windows

Studio Street

Inside outside

Subject object

Chosen Image

This is my chosen image, it is a field where a person has worn in a path from the amount of times they have walked it. I have chosen this image because it has elements of both Mirrors and Windows, it looks at the outside world in reality but also peers into someone’s life and why this particular path might of been important or why they continue to walk the same path. This has elements of being a Window because its a realistic image and its external it looks outside the life of a person and their home. This image could also be seen as a Mirror because it does reflect on the persons life in a way. It suggests what was important about this image and why they chose to take this photo.