What Are The Differences Between Photographs That Are Windows And Mirrors?
Mirrors and windows, windows allow the viewer/audience into distant settings, experiences which the viewers have not yet experienced. Mirrors do the opposite and reflect personal identity and emotions. Both mirrors and windows represent two key aspects of life: Internal discovery, finding out about yourself and the other is exploring your surroundings. Every photograph, whether using a window to capture a outward experience or a mirror to get personal emotions, they both tell a story or message. Both windows and mirrors allow photographers to balance storytelling with expression of emotions and themselves.
The concept of windows an mirrors was heavily researched by John Szarkowski, who is a photographer born in 1925 from Wisconsin, United states, Szarkowski created a book in 1978 called: Mirrors And Windows, American Photography since 1960. In this book he argues that photography normally falls into two categories which reflects the photographers personality (mirrors) or work that captures the world outside their own experience (windows).