Portals: Constraints and Revelations

When we are on the inside looking out, as +nomad dimitri noted recently, windows not only limit our perspective but insulate us; they create a barrier that separates us from physical contact with the world and prevents us from passing through intimate experience.

At other times, we may find ourselves on the outside looking in, glimpsing at a life we can never hope to attain.

I found this window display at Bergdorf Goodman on New York’s 5th Avenue more ominous than inviting: the female figure objectified and faceless, no eyes to see; the sneering herd of male figures leering down on her from above; the passerby on the street looking in. The reflection of other windows. Who gazes down at us unseen from those windows? And I behind my own lens and filter, hidden from view provide the window that constrains your gaze.

GPlus New York City