Introduction
With Photography originating through the use of the camera obscura, a tool believed to have been used since 400BC, this brought about this instantaneous form of ‘drawing with light’. As this optical phenomenon filled rooms of light with images, many pioneers of photography attempted to find more practical ways to invent processes that could fix the image on a surface.
One of these pioneers was Louis Daguerre in 1839, creating the visual experience now known as the Daguerreotype, creating ‘people on the edge of being present’. This would be done initially by polishing a metal plate and laying silver grains upon the surface of it due to them being light-sensitive. Then, this would be placed inside a large format camera and exposed to light from hours to days in order for the light to be reflected back through. After this, the plate would be heated, then cooled with water with extreme caution. This was because if the daguerreotype was touched in the slightest, the image would melt away and be destroyed, wasting the many tools that had to be used. These had high monetary value too, meaning that if the Daguerreotype had been melted away, the artist would have missed out greatly. Due to the fragile element of this photographic process, these would typically be placed into special housing such as wooden boxes, an open model or a folding case which included red velvet too for protection and luxury.
Then came the salted paper and Calotype production of Henry William Fox-Talbot. Talbot first began by applying “silver salts” onto salted paper, creating silver nitrate reactions from the light-sensitivity. This was then exposed to light for many days and then darkened producing negative images. These appeared like shoebox sized cameras and were named mousetraps and were very difficult to use because if it was disturbed it may just get darker and darker so that its only experienced momentarily. Overall, calotypes were better than Daguerreotypes due to it being easily distributed, reproduced and were much cheaper. Whilst they both used light sensitive silver salts, the Daguerreotypes required a lot more tools and metal plates which would have been extremely difficult to find and afford back in the 19th century.
In my opinion, I believe that Daguerreotypes should be categorised as mirrors, due to the fact that they are fictional and staged, with the subjects within the image sat posed in a tableaux-style. I feel that from a certain perspective, however, this can be perceived as a window due to it looking objectively and as if it is documenting someone of importance, yet I think that the loss of candidness makes the Daguerreotypes more of a mirror. I also think that the formal tone of these images pushes the Daguerreotypes to be categorised as a mirror because they can be interpreted in a subjective way, for example the people in the images pretending to be someone of importance and wealth when that’s not what actually defines them.
On the other hand, Calotypes can be majorly categorised as windows, due to these paper negatives documenting the landscape, for example, in an objective and truthful manner. These images identify with realism because their entire concept is external to the photographer with no personality behind it.
In accordance to John Szarkowski’s thesis, he states that ‘The distance between them is to be measured not in terms of the relative force or originality of their work, but in terms of their conceptions of what a photograph is.‘, which stood out to me as it looks at what photography actually is from a different perspective, being that photography isn’t defined by how original your images are or what is within the image, but focuses on the different perceptions of photography and the different associations made. I think this quote is really important because it shifts the narrative of photography from being technical and critical, and instead towards a more conceptual, intentional and meaningful form of expression.
Mirrors
For my example of photographs as mirrors, I chose this image by Gregory Crewdson named ‘Untitled’. Crewdson’s image of a girl in a unclean room followed by a trail of scattered, picked apart roses portrays themes of suburban anxiety, disorientation, fear, loss, and longing. Using a wide-shot angle, Crewdson paints this storyline of vulnerability and abnormality, with the image looking slightly disorientated. A woman sitting in her nightgown on the edge of the bed, emulating a child with her slumped demeanour, followed by piles of roses and thorns. This image is a mirror due to his use of teams of riggers, grips, lighting specialists, and actors in order to create a scene that looks like a film still or a tableaux vivant. The subjectivity in the image is immense making it open to interpretation, for example the roses and thorns being a symbol for the hard journeys that Crewdson has had to go through in his life to get to where he is now. The ambient lighting placed strategically around the room gives the walls a tone of grey and navy in order to emphasize the woman’s distress and lonesome, however this is also tactical in making the viewer feel the same emotion as her. With the final story of this woman remaining elusive and concealed, this image has its roots in Romanticism because of the fairy-tale like aesthetic it has and how it becomes affiliated with the classic horror aesthetic; something terrible has happened, is happening, and will likely happen again. The use of artificial lighting makes it evident that this is shot in a studio, with the lighting being dramatically centred around her like a spotlight, drawing the viewers eyes to her initially.
Szarkowski idealises that his thesis is not a rigid pattern, but a ‘continuous axis, the two poles of which might be described by the terms proposed above’ whilst on the other hand, Pearl’s review criticises this, arguing that ‘its very nature, presupposes a “generous and inclusive acceptance of fact, objective structure,” and that the selection among these facts is the romantic, personal opposite built into any photograph of merit.’. To an overall extent, I agree with Szarkowski’s viewpoint of mirrors and windows being a continual categorisation method because not all photographs can be defined by subjectivity or objectivity, and may sometimes be both. This is because some images can vary, being personal and idealising a romantic expression of the photographs own perspective on the world whilst still being documentary.
Windows
Henri-Cartier Bresson’s photojournalism is a key example of realism photographs, especially this one entitled ‘Baghdad1950’. This image stems from how, in 1950, Iraq was undergoing significant changes, transitioning from a monarchy to a more modern state. The emotional resonance that this image gives the viewer through documenting the great poverty among the people of Baghdad at the time evokes nostalgia, curiosity and contemplation on the privilege that we hold within our own lives in comparison to the overpopulation that this image reveals. Bresson’s success in showing the exterior world that goes unbeknowst to us is incredibly moving because it captures a truthful story in a raw and real way. The monochromatic palette that Bresson has included has emphasised the contrast and texture, the dry and cracked walls from the hundreds to thousands of people passing by everyday, in order to draw attention to the subject matter and the emotions of the people.
The importance of photographs categorised as windows is evident here, forcing their viewers to resonate with themes of community, connection and existence of these underfunded places. Additionally, this enables us as the viewers to learn visually about the cultures, architectures, attires and customs in places that would go unseen otherwise, embodying a tension between modernisation and tradition to show a distinct civilisation. This realist viewpoint archives a pivotal moment in a city’s history that would have been missed or forgotten without this reflection of unique culture and universal aspects of human life. Without images such as these, activism and awareness would not exist, whereas with window photographs, we can get rich insights into the reality of others lives. Through Szarkowski’s thesis of ‘a window, through which one might better know the world?’ and Jed Pearl’s review stating ‘It is the realist view that the world exists independent of human attention’, I feel that these both can define not only Bresson’s image above, but define the meaning being the category of windows on a whole. They outline how the form of photography within windows can spread messages of crisis, hardship and difficulty better than words can describe, and provide evidence to richly detail this.
Conclusion
To conclude, photographs construed as windows, such as Cartier-Bresson’s objective approach into the lives of the people of Baghdad in 1950, reveals the innermost complexities of the varying cultures around the world and ensures that the opportunities of activism are given. Without images such as these, the world would be unaware of not only the difficulties other face in order to appreciate their own, but also enables people with less to gain higher opportunities and gives them the chance for their stories to be told through a lens. Alternatively, these images classified as mirrors allow photographs to envision a story and produce it in order to share private things in their lives of which they may have not been able to find the words to explain. Additionally, due to the subjective nature of these images, viewers can interpret the photographs into their own lives and apply it in realistic situations as a form of comfort. Along the lines of fictional storytelling, this allows exploration of intimate and personal experience and allows us to connect with one another through fictional stories that may resonate with our own personal beliefs and matters.
These opposing concepts of photography; the subjective and objective; the public and private; the fact and the fiction; realism and romanticism, provide alternative perspectives of not only what a photograph is but concurrently reflect the personal experiences that we all uniquely inhabit within our lives and contextualise the wider social issues and conditions. Crewdson’s image resonates with Szarkowski’s explanations of mirrors being that they ‘largely reflected the subjectivity of the artist’ and Pearl’s review of ‘Romantic is used here … as a term that suggests the central and indispensable presence in the picture of its maker, whose sensibility is the photograph’s ultimate subject, and the standard against which its success is measured.’. Additionally, Crewdson’s representation of fictional tableau in a personal format can also be defined by Szarkowski’s thesis of ‘work largely sought to seek outside themselves’ and Pearl’s review disclosing ‘ a generous and inclusive acceptance of fact, objective structure, and the process of logic and system.’ because they highlight the dynamic and potentially controversial aspects of externally documenting the alternating experiences of everyday life. By establishing the connection between photographs and the views of windows and mirrors, this allows people around the world to connect and enhance understandings of different realities.
Szarkowski, J. (1978), Mirrors and Windows: American Photography Since 1960. Museum of Modern Art: New York
