About the Book
Note: this is the large hardback version, which makes a beautiful coffee table book.
The complex of buildings at the corner of North Mascher Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue in Philadelphia was built in the 1860's. It has been used for various purposes including the manufacturing of power looms and knitting machines, the making of cloth and carpets on these machines, carpentry and furniture-making, and the manufacturing of nuts and bolts. As of this writing in 2009, the building is no longer in use for industry, but it is occupied by a number of artists who use it for their homes and studios.
One November morning I was struck by the beauty of the light coming through the many windows which surround their floor. Ivy vines and their leaves, red-brown and falling off, were silhouetted against the light. This scene propelled me into a rich photographic exploration of the windows and the many ways we can look at them and through them.
The windows themselves are fascinating when you look closer, varied as they are due to the slow deterioration of their frames, the buildup of sediment, and the occasional impact of a stray bullet or a bird. Some panes are cracked or patched, and some are covered with insulating plastic, particularly on the northern side of the building. On the southern and eastern sides of the building, which are not insulated, you can see out into the Kensington neighborhood and further - to the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and Center City Philadelphia.
This book is about seeing beauty in impermanence, irregularity, and continual flow. The varying transparencies of the windows remind us that we can choose to look at the world in different ways. We can look through a window to see what's outside or we can look at the window itself, in all its absorbing detail. We can look at the frame, the surface of the pane, the things nearby, the things far away, or the changing patterns of light and shadows.
Windows also provoke thought about the act of framing itself: how we can see beauty and create
significance by temporarily containing a particular view of a particular moment in time.
Gloria Justen, June 2009
The complex of buildings at the corner of North Mascher Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue in Philadelphia was built in the 1860's. It has been used for various purposes including the manufacturing of power looms and knitting machines, the making of cloth and carpets on these machines, carpentry and furniture-making, and the manufacturing of nuts and bolts. As of this writing in 2009, the building is no longer in use for industry, but it is occupied by a number of artists who use it for their homes and studios.
One November morning I was struck by the beauty of the light coming through the many windows which surround their floor. Ivy vines and their leaves, red-brown and falling off, were silhouetted against the light. This scene propelled me into a rich photographic exploration of the windows and the many ways we can look at them and through them.
The windows themselves are fascinating when you look closer, varied as they are due to the slow deterioration of their frames, the buildup of sediment, and the occasional impact of a stray bullet or a bird. Some panes are cracked or patched, and some are covered with insulating plastic, particularly on the northern side of the building. On the southern and eastern sides of the building, which are not insulated, you can see out into the Kensington neighborhood and further - to the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and Center City Philadelphia.
This book is about seeing beauty in impermanence, irregularity, and continual flow. The varying transparencies of the windows remind us that we can choose to look at the world in different ways. We can look through a window to see what's outside or we can look at the window itself, in all its absorbing detail. We can look at the frame, the surface of the pane, the things nearby, the things far away, or the changing patterns of light and shadows.
Windows also provoke thought about the act of framing itself: how we can see beauty and create
significance by temporarily containing a particular view of a particular moment in time.
Gloria Justen, June 2009
Features & Details
- Primary Category: Fine Art Photography
-
Project Option: Large Format Landscape, 13×11 in, 33×28 cm
# of Pages: 80 - Publish Date: Jul 16, 2009
See More
About the Creator
Gloria Justen
Mill Valley, CA, USA
