We are all players on a stage…

The photos below collectively comprise my series entitled THE WINDOW. Over the course of a hour standing still in lower Manhattan in 2023 I waited and watched as the passersby went about their daily lives. I submitted the collection for a NYFA Grant in 2025.

I curated the photos into groups of three- The Mailman, The Texting Couple, The Green Cap. The frame becomes a stage with the mailman entering Stage R, the texting couple entering Stage L and the green cap guy entering Stage R again. Where are they going? What are their stories?

A photograph stops time; preserves the moment.  The passersby move through time as evidenced by their changing positions in each frame.  You, the viewer, stand still as do I in front of you. Where are you standing while you’re looking at these photos?  Are you inside the store looking out?  And how do you feel about having the camera pointing directly at you?  While you’re looking at the photograph, do you see your own reflection in the glass?

Windows symbolize transparency, a way to see through and into something or someone. “Eyes are the window to the soul” comes to mind. Mirrors are symbolic of spiritual growth and psychological depth. They reflect who we think we are. In my series of photographs entitled, The Window, taken in front of a random, vacant retail store window in lower Manhattan, the window is also a mirror. The camera becomes the tool of a voyeur and the vehicle for lessons we learn over and over and over.