Mirrors and Windows

I read a comment recently, and I'll confess, I forget where, but the writer made the point that photography acts as a mirror more often than a window. I find this idea so simple and elegant.

Now, imagine a two way mirror. But this two way mirror is malfunctioning. It reflects you, but you can just make out some figures or faces on the other side. And the faces on the other side, see their own reflections, and they can just make out your face. If you get that... then stay with me for a moment...

The photograph is a window to that which was within the plane of view of the camera. But it's a wonderful reflection of the photographer's sight and timing. A viewer of that photograph brings their own experiences, attitudes, and emotional baggage with them. Sometimes, a photograph will touch a viewer deeply, and, perhaps, on a gut level they've seen their own reflection with a faint view through a window to the photographer. The viewer and the photographer are each on the other side of the malfunctioning two way mirror, and have made an emotional connection.

I've been thinking about my own work in these terms, and for the first time I've realized that my photographs are not only a window into the lives my children, but are also a reflection of my life as a mother. I've been literally so focussed on them, both as a mother and a photographer, that I rarely consider my own presence in the photographs. And I've overlooked how important my role as a mother is to my role as a photographer. And if I've touched a viewer with one of my photographs, well... it completes a circle, somehow.