The Mirrors and Windows exhibition of American photography has been around since 1960, and in 1978 opened in New York City at The Museum of Modern Art. The curator, John Szarkowski, wanted to categorise photographers into subjective work, reflective of the individual and objective, documentary work that sought outside the individual.
What is the difference between photographs that are mirrors and windows?
Mirrors and windows are ideas of a binary opposite. ‘…two creative motives…’ [Szarkowski, 1978] that have conspicuous contrasting ideas.
Mirrors is an idea about expression and originality. Multiple, subjective perspectives can be interpreted. Just as mirrors, photos can have a warped or manipulated perspective to emphasise a narrative/point.
This ‘creative motive’ is reminiscent of the theatrical visual art of tableaux vivant, that would recreate artworks with props and actors on stage. Similar to the way a photo recreates ideas with its subjects, composition and themes.
To Szarkowski it was ‘…reflecting a portrait of the artist who made it…’. Early examples of this romantic style photography can be seen in the works of Julia Margaret Cameron, who was directly inspired by tableaux vivants.
Julia Margaret Cameron
Windows is of a single objective perspective. They are descriptive, documentary and formal as they tell a clear narrative in from a fixed point of view.
Examples of ‘window’ photographers are Henri Cartier Bresson – and photojournalist who travelled the world merely observing conflicts, communities and cultures – and Ansel Adams – a photographer and activist of many conservation groups, capturing the candid beauty of national parks.
‘Window’ effect with using the hole as a frame.
Windows describe something present whilst mirrors describe the interpretation of what is present.
The compositions are always creative, and can be informative or abstract. Windows and mirrors to me seem to a spectrum to exercise ideas and storytelling.
Tama, a good blog post which demonstrates clear understanding between differences/ similarities between images that are mirrors and windows.
It would be good if you could find time to do the essay too as this is something that you would enjoy thinking about.