What are the differences between photographs that are MIRRORS and photographs that are WINDOWS?

Photographs which are ‘reflecting a portrait of the artist who made it‘ – John Szarkowski, 1978, are considered to be mirror photography, as they are giving insight to the artists personal life. Mirror photography is often subjective and open to interpretation. Whereas window photography gives you a view into someone else’s life and experiences. Window photography allows you to explore the world and it can be a form of documentation, which is often objective. It allows you to understand more about the world as John Szarkowski said, ‘through which one might better know the world’ –  John Szarkowski, 1978.

Mirrors:

• Subjective (open to interpretation)
• Reflects artist
• Reflections
• View into your own life
• Manipulated
• Synthetic
• Personal

I believe this image is a form of mirror photography as it is personal to the photographer. It is an image of the photographers freezer which contains their food, this makes it quite a personal image as it is showing the world what they have got inside of their own home, and what they eat. It is also subjective as people may have different opinions about the freezer and its content, making it a mirror image.

Windows:

• Objective (not open to interpretation)
• Outside world
• Documents
• Real
• Public

This is a form of window photography as it is a view of the outside world, and it is real. It can also be a form of documentation as they are photographing what appears to be factories, making it a window image.