Quirky Window Perspectives

My blog today looks at some quirky window perspectives. These are images where I have set out to use the window reflection as a deliberate element in the composition and content of the image.

Quirky Window Perspectives

Taking a photo of a shop window can be tricky. If you are not careful you can get yourself in the shot. The first times I really got caught up with the idea of a quirky window perspective was during a trip to Copenhagen.

I blame the funky bicycle shop

I wrote about my trip to Copenhagen in several blog posts, for example there was one where I mentioned naked vikings…

They have these great bicycles in Copenhagen, often with trailers or with carry boxes on the front. Near my hotel was a shop selling them. As it was just before Christmas they had this red bicycle in the window piled high with gifts. But the light was perfect for catching the shopping street in the reflections of the window.  As you can see in ‘Gifts on Two Wheels’ that is one quirky window perspective. The main quandry I had was what to take as my horizontal. As you can see I went for the bottom of the bicycle.

Wistful Stevie Mouse

My next quirky window perspective was when I had gone out of the front door at home and glanced up at the kitchen window. I was taking my camera outside to take some photographs of the countryside but again my eye was caught by a movement in the window and the reflection.

There was Stevie Mouse, sitting next to the pink hyacinth I had placed on the window ledge. She was gazing out to ‘the world outside’ which was reflected in the window. This was so poignant. Regular blog readers will know that Stevie Mouse is not allowed to go outside of the house owing to her poor eyesight. I was lucky enough to get a photograph that captured that moment.

Cetona reflections

A quirky window perspective presented itself in Cetona, Tuscany. I was there to visit the annual flower market (covered in my blog). Walking along the edge of the piazza I noticed a shop window that made me stop and walk backwards to take a second look.

The light was perfect. The lower part of the window was showing the goods for sale in the shop. If you look you can see, for example, a bottle of champagne on display. But the light was causing a wonderful reflection of the old buildings on the other side of the piazze. One photograph later I was a happy bunny as I created ‘Cetona Reflections’.

Now let’s get really quirky

There is a shop in Brighton that has sewing machines as part of their window display – lots of them! It is a shop that sells clothes so I guess the window display makes sense. The sewing machines are all old models, I should think some of them might be worth something!

The look of the windows and the reflections drove me crazy; my heart was actually beating quite fast with the excitement of trying to catch the experience on film! I took half a dozen shots out of which three were what I was looking for. This one is just an example.

Warning! Quirky window perspectives can be addictive!

Before you go

My name is Dorothy Berry-Lound an artist and writer. You can find out more about my art and writing at https://dorothyberryloundart.com.

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Thank you for reading!