What is Strangeness? A sense of otherness. The opposite of common, ordinary, familiar. Strangeness comes out of capturing human beings and the world in a different, unfamiliar light. In this article, I wanted to explore different ways I have evoked a sense of strangeness and otherness in my photography - and through this, introduce possible avenues for you to explore. I hope you will enjoy this reading, and if so, let me know in the comments!
While there are many ways to think of the strange and unfamiliar, in my next series of articles I will discuss five themes that are close to my heart:
Windows to create distance and a sense of otherness
4. Windows to create distance and a sense of otherness
Though windows, we are forever outsiders, observing a private world that we are not part of, and that we can never truly comprehend. This sense of otherness, of distance between ourselves and the subject, and of unknowability, is a common consequence of shooting people across windows of any kind. They may see us or look away, they may be absorbed in a conversation or be asleep in front of us, the mystery accompanying these images is forever endless. So much is hidden from us, shielded from our eyes, that we cannot completely grasp this other reality. In essence, through observing life through windows, we are establishing a barrier that we will never truly overcome, and we create images that evoke another world filled with people who remain out of reach, unknowable to us, and perhaps even to themselves.
4.1 This image of an older man looking through the window of a moving bus conveys a sense of otherness, of longings that can never be shared. He’s looking in the direction of the camera, but not quite at the camera - he’s looking in the void, captured in his own thoughts, and his sad, pensive gaze creates a sense of isolation. Isolation in the space of an empty bus, but also in our cognitive space. We are looking at a man that we cannot reach, the window acting as a definitive layer of separation between him and the viewer. There’s an atmosphere of sadness from the rain and night all around us, and we are left wondering where this man is going, and what goes on his mind. The window here gives a brief moment of connection with someone we will never truly know, and at the same time, creates distance and differentiation between him and us. While there is familiarity in this scene, this man looking at us without seeing us emphasizes how little we know about people.
4.2 This image of a little girl could be interesting on its own, for the light and contrast in the image, and the perpendicular lines created by the frame of the door. But there is more to it, when we start to see the man behind, or part of a man behind, overlooking that little girl. Because we can’t see him fully, his features add a layer of mystery and unknown. His relationship with the girl, for example, is not clear. Is he protecting her, or is he an unfamiliar, potentially menacing presence in the background? The window here acts as a divisor between us and them, and we are left with a slight discomfort not knowing who this man is, and what he represents - either protection or menace, familiarity or unfamiliarity. What happens behind the door will remain out of sight forever.
4.3 Indeed, windows separate and hide who’s really behind, creating a sense of otherness and distantiation. In this image, there is much left to the imagination, to the world of strange and unfamiliar. All we can see through the window is a hand, lost among the many reflections of the city. This hand has a wedding ring, clearly. But what this hand is doing here, and who it belongs to will never be shared nor seen. The window offers a stance into the private life of people, and yet hides most of this life from us - literally and figuratively. And due to the reflections, we are not able to place this hand in the context of human habitation - the reflected windows all around us dominate and shield our subject entirely, leaving the mystery of this ‘other’ man, completely intact.
4.4 Windows as an element creating distance and otherness can also work with other materials, or ‘barriers’ between us and the subject(s). Here, a transparent umbrella creates an opportunity to observe without being seen, but at the same time, gives us an incomplete and distorted vision of the world beyond. Our subject, this blond woman, appears out of reach, blurred into the layers of the umbrella, while other people in the forefront and background of the image only have bodies that we can glimpse at, no faces or heads. This creates the effect of observing an incomplete and unfamiliar world, a world mirroring ours and yet, out of reach, and mostly out of sight. Being so close, we are forever separated from them, forever left to ponder about a reality that seems familiar and strange all at the same time.
4.5 The consequence of looking through a closed window is to observe from the outside. Being the outsider, we can never really fathom the world that is beyond us, and much is left to the imagination. A sense of strangeness, while utterly possible outdoor in the street, is somehow amplified through a window or a glass. It gives the false impression of proximity, while shielding us from what’s really happening inside - creating a distance that we can never truly overcome. In this image, we observe someone sleeping or dreaming, in the middle of a busy coffee shop. There is strong contrast between the private act of sleeping, even temporarily, and the public act of consuming a coffee with others in a shop, which creates a sense of strangeness in this image. Perhaps our subject is just resting, alert to what’s happening around her (but not aware of us), or perhaps she’s actually sleeping, lost in her dreams. This ambiguity is made possible because of our position as an outsider beyond the glass shielding her, making her forever mysterious and inaccesible to us.
4.6 When there is a direct connection with the viewer through eye contact, like in this photograph above, the window as a divisor can create an unsettling feeling, of seeing and being seen, while never really comprehending what’s happening behind the glass. This image is mysterious at the very least, the woman lost in the reflections of the city, alarmingly beautiful and somewhat floating in the space. But her gaze is strong, almost disdainful. The juxtaposition of all of these layers combined with her response to the photograph is somewhat unsettling - from invisible, we’ve become utterly visible, and yet, much of her mystery is preserved with this glass separating her from us. Where is she? What is she doing? What’s going on behind her? None of this is accessible to us. She belongs to another world that we cannot reach.
Thank you for reading, and I wish you a lovely day and happy pursuit in your street photography journey. Stay tuned for our last chapter - Part 5: The transformative power of reflections to distort reality.