Exhibition: Windows (February 2007)

Go to the gallery of images of the exhibition.

Introduction

Coming up with the idea to do this exhibition about showing photos of windows was an easy choice. I did make lots of images showing windows, in facts so many that most of them are not even shown in this exhibition (you can use the search function to find them).
But when I thought about what to write as additional text about window-photos things turned out to be not that simple.
At the first glance, windows are just there. That's it. They also just appear on images. That's it.
But after some thinking I figured out what windows can be used in images in very effective ways:

Windows can add an element of interest to images

Window

Often windows can be used to add an interesting element to a subject that would otherwise not be that interesting.
The adobe wall on the left-hand side is quite ok and also a very typical subject for Santa Fe in northern New Mexico, but in itself the wall would be a very boring subject not really worth taking a photo.
The small window with the light blue frame on the left side of the image adds an interesting subject to the image and also is the first subject that the eye focuses on when looking at the image. In this image also the color contrast between the orange-red adobe background and the frame of the window in the complementary color blue add to the image.

Window in Vico del Gargano

In the photo on the right the wall is typical for the fairly shabby center of the village Vico del Gargano in southern Italy. I think that the badly painted wall itself would have been a nice abstract subject. But again the tiny window on the right side of the frame enhances the image. It adds an element the eye can immediately focus on.

Windows can be typical for an area

Window

Often just the sight of a window is immediately associated with a certain region.
Blue window-shutters and white walls are immediately associated with Greece, small islands and holidays. The window on the left side was not taken in Greece, it was taken in the Troodos mountains of Cyprus (which is very close anyway).

Itimat-ud-Daula

Similarly the richly ornamented marble window on the left side is immediately associated by most viewers with Asia.
And in fact: The image of the window was taken is in northern India. The window is part of Itimat-ud-Daula, a tomb made of marble located in Agra.

Also the title image of this exhibition, the Engadin Window is also reminding most viewers immediately of old farm houses in the mountains of the alps. I did find this window in the southeastern part of Switzerland in the Engardin valley.