Reflecting on reflections
January 29, 2022
John Szarkowski stated that photographs could be seen either as mirrors which he described as being a “romantic expression of the photographer’s sensibilities” or windows “through which the exterior world is explored in all its presence and reality” (1)
This analogy captures the notion of subjectivity versus objectivity in photography. This might be better considered as a balance of the two rather than polar opposites. If we imagine a spectrum with ‘mirror’ at one end and ‘window’ at the other, we can place photographs somewhere along that line which helps understand the motives behind them. Was it for example to document or chronicle events significant to history? Or to express the photographers state of mind in a certain time and place? Is it possible to do both simultaneously?
If we think of a window, it also has reflective properties when viewed from a certain angle under certain lighting conditions. It can be both a mirror and a window. Is it possible to completely remove one’s own subjectivity in the process of taking a photograph? Can we remove our own reflection or do we simply choose to ignore it? There are so many decisions made in the process, from positioning, to framing, to printing that impart ones identity in the making of a picture. It seems inevitable that our own fingerprint can be found on the image.
From a personal perspective I feel our own personal identity is inescapable in the process of taking and making pictures. I can identify with both ends of the spectrum but have always believed the power of photography lies in its origins as a medium of ‘truth’. At the same time, things get interesting when both ends of the spectrum are mixed, leading to definitions such as ‘self reportage’, or ‘artistic exposure’. In his book, Schindler’s Ark, Thomas Keneally blended ‘fact’ and ‘fiction’ to create a new genre labelled ‘faction’. Photography also lends itself to a blend of imagination and reality.
There are other metaphors and analogies that have been used to help us understand the nature of photography. Hunting is one used by street or documentary photographers, describing the process of patiently waiting for a scene to present itself before shooting or capturing the image. This metaphor is less flattering, conjuring up images of paparazzi stalking their prey. Maybe a kinder analogy is fishing, where we patiently wait before catching and releasing our subjects.
My motivation behind photography is the joy I experience through the act of shooting itself, the personal and artistic freedom I feel when walking the streets and finding beauty in the mundane. As Henri Cartier-Bresson said: “to preserve life in the act of living” (2). Through photography I would like to learn about the people and the place where I live; it’s history and culture and my relationship to it. I believe photography helps us to see and understand more, whether that’s looking through a window or at the reflection in it.
(1) SZARKOWSKI, John. 1978. ‘Mirrors and Windows: American Photography since 1960’. Press Release. Available at http://www.moma.org/momaorg/shared/pdfs/docs/press_archives/5624/releases/MOMA_1978_0060_56.pdf?2010 [accessed 26 January 2022].
(2) CARTIER-BRESSON, Henri. 1952. The Decisive Moment. Simon and Schuster.