State Szarkowski’s is saying that image can be consider as mirror or window. If the image is consider to be mirror, it’s basically saying that the image consider to have some sort of underlying meaning that can be reflected to the viewers for interpretation. For image that is consider to be window, it’s basically more direct and clear to the viewers.

The one by Gary Winogard can be consider as a window image because the meaning is more direct and the story is more clear. While the one by Gregory Crewdson is a mirror because as a viewer, we don’t immediately understand what’s the meaning of the photo. Everyone has their own take on it.

Both images can be consider taken at a eye level angel. The one by Winogard, it has more higher contrast than the one by Crewdson because the one by Winogard show more differences of what’s dark and whats light. So the one by Crewdson is to be consider as a low contrast photography. In terms of lighting, the one by Winogard is more of the direct lighting because of the harsh shadow that is being cast from the bicycle and the cactus/plant. The one by Crewdson is more of the front light.

John Szarkowski’s believed in the Mirrors and Windows style, in which the Mirror style mirrors back what the photographer is feeling or what they wanted you to feel. As for the Windows style, is more of reality and how day to day life is all about. The photograpgh on the left shows the mirror style because the whole scene is set up to show a specific emotion, from the lighting and angle, you can get the feeling of a movie scene. Now the photograph on the right is in the open and the shadows of the clouds make it seem like a cloudy day and the field looks dry. In this photograph there is nothing planed out, but more of a in the moment shot, showing reality.

Mirror I consider is a photograph that reflects something that the artist wants to express such as emotions, feelings or something in particular. Window would be something that shows what is out there, what surrounds us such as a town, landscape, something that happens in our daily life. Gary Winogrand’s photograph is the window and Gregory Crewdson’s photograph is the mirror.  The mirror image you can tell that is setup it is all arranged and this gives us the idea that the artist wants to show and tell something, a story, a feeling. The window image is showing a kid just walking out of the garage something very common, a reality.

Winograd’s photograph is at a low level angle, deep space (creates some perspective) , sharp overall,has extensive depth of field, diffused lighting and is high contrast. Crewdson’s photograph is at eye level angle, deep space, sharp focused, side light, and extensive depth of field, you can see the distance between nearest and farthest sharp areas.

Szarkowski’s Mirrors and Windows thesis in my own words mean that there are multiple ways of interpretation, but also how photos are created.

I consider both could be windows. The 2nd image with the daughter i believe can be seen as a window because, who knows if this situation might have happened to someone else, or to at least very similar to it so it could be  window. I also believe that it can be considered a mirror too. This photo also displays personal emotion displayed by the models inside of the set. With all of the pre chosen lighting and props that went along with it.

The 1st photo, the one with the shot of desert Suburbia is very likely a window view. There is no alteration to the image, nothing staged, and it just happened. Which makes it more of a mirror than the second image. Also the 1st image has a very high tones especially with the baby who is playing by the garage which is a very high contrast area compared to the 2nd image.

The depth of field for both images are very close in to extensive view. The viewpoint of both images are close to eye level but drifts slightly to higher and little below.  The 1st image has more negative space than the second one. Due to the second image being set up for the particular shot, unlike the first image which was shot on the fly.

So that is my opinion on the two images displayed.

john szarkowski, expressed in his paper the two different styles of white and frank. That one favored self-expression through his work as a mirror of his life to show a glimpse of himself in his piece. The other favored realism taking photography just to show how the real world is without ad ons, simply expressing how the world is opening a window to reality.

Szarkowski uses mirrors and windows ad a way to describe photography and the artist behind them. The use of mirrors reflects the feelings or mental state of a person while the window reflects an ambition or image that the artist would like to see.

Both pictures reflect subjects in similar positions with different meanings. Gary shows a window where the subject could be some he knows or is familiar with while Gregory reflects a set up scene where the subject might be having a bad night in many different ways. Creating both a mirror and a window takes the artist in different positions while themes or other factors they decide to photograph.