by T. Braunstein
The initial idea for the book began with some photographs in Life magazine that showed people looking into a case at the Hope diamond, which was part of a gem exhibition at the Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. My interest was arounsed since, in the phtographs, the peoples' faces were reflected in the gem case. Since the diamond was so small, it looked as thought they were looking at themselves in mirrors. They were doing this in a very curious and fascinated way. It caused me to think about perception and how the way that we see, we think that everyone else sees. In fact, what we see is completly influenced by what we each know. Windows became a process of exploring, through juxtaposed photographs, how and what we see. The images that were collected for this book were about people questioning what they were seeing and what they were presenting for others to see. There are no words, just a continuous flow of images that bring together differnt times, places and disciplines--psycology, sociology, politics and history.
William Blake Press
Visual Studies Workshop Press
publisher: William Blake Press
popular culture (AAT) Found photography
artists' books (LCSH)
themes: Perception and seeing as stated through found photomontage [T. Shaw]
artists' book (local)
inspiration: the William Blake quote, "If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite." [T. Braunstein]
community: workshop Visual Studies Workshop [T. Shaw]
manuscript type: other
location: artist's archive
note: Windows began as a one-of-a-kind photomontage book in notebook form.