Window Watchers in a City of Strangers
Window Watchers in a City of Strangers – NYTimes.com.
The ability to observe the private lives of strangers from the windows of our homes — and the knowledge that they can often watch us, as well — has long been a staple of city life, one that was immortalized in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 film “Rear Window.” It has provided material for countless movies and books since then, most recently “The City Out My Window: 63 Views on New York,” a book of drawings by Matteo Pericoli that asks well-known New Yorkers to describe what they see from their windows, and is the subject of “Out My Window NYC,” a new series of photographs by Gail Albert Halaban.
This often inadvertent voyeurism gives rise to relationships that can be deeply meaningful, although the people involved may never actually meet, said Ethel Sheffer, an urban planner and past president of the American Planning Association’s New York Metro Chapter. “One doesn’t always know their names, but it’s a connection of some sort and it becomes part of the fabric of your life,” Ms. Sheffer said. “The density and the closeness, even if it’s anonymous,” creates a sense of intimacy, she added, and “makes for an understanding that we’re all here” together.
The concept of windows as both literal and metaphorical lenses through which we view the world around us has always held a unique place in our urban experience. As we peer into the lives of others, the boundaries between public and private seem to blur, allowing us to forge connections — or perhaps more accurately, illusions of connection. In a similar vein, the installation of windows in our homes can dramatically alter our relationship with the outside world.
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