Depicting & Editing Storefront Window Reflections
“I invite you to be open to some additional ways of viewing and interpreting such images, aside from the straightforward mirroring effect captured in the elusive moment. Seek out the depths in multiple layers, the hints of reflective controversy, the crossover between reality and imagination. There is a story here, open to your own personal interpretation.”—Chiara-Sophia Coyle
Clicks & Relativity
By Chiara-Sophia Coyle
OAKLAND California—(Weekly Hubris)—February 2019—What’s really in a storefront reflection, you may ask yourself. And what’s in a photograph of this reflection? Scenes encountered by us all while engaging in life on the city street, yes . . . but, what else? What more?
What do you notice beyond the actual display? What lures you in, and entices you to explore the path of commercial consumerism and instant gratification? Vanity might suggest that a quick glance at your own image being reflected back is part and parcel of . . . reflecting. Perhaps the storefront, and its reflection, serves as an unexpected full-body-length mirror, just where you least expect it? Or, perhaps, you crave a quick, surreptitious peek at the person standing just behind you?
I invite you to be open to some additional ways of viewing and interpreting such images, aside from the straightforward mirroring effect captured in the elusive moment. Seek out the depths in multiple layers, the hints of reflective controversy, the crossover between reality and imagination. There is a story here, or stories, open to your own personal interpretation. Using light, the mirroring effect explores current culture and, through blending scenes, reveals patterns and, perhaps, some anonymity in messaging. Surreal fragility might even be found lurking in a corner.
Interpretation in photography is always individualistic, idiosyncratic, and very personal. Rather than share my own “titles” for the images below (thus revealing my own interpretation) I thought it would be fun simply to number them and leave the cataloguing to the eyes of the beholder! I would be happy to engage in a dialogue and share what I, myself, see in these images: let me hear from you, upon reflection.
Chiara-Sophia Coyle
Born in the United States in the 1960s (then, transplanted to a very small, remote Greek island at the age of three months); brought up in a bilingual and frequently culturally conflicted environment; repatriated to Homeland No. 1 some 25 years ago; descended from four generations of photographers, Chiara-Sophia Coyle was acquainted with photography from an early age; always pursued by her mother, Rolleiflex at the ready, recording and sharing scenes of family life with absent grandparents and her children's working-at-sea father. Photography became Coyle's own escape as a young teenager. Kodak Instamatic in hand, the sound of the twist and the advancement of the film music to her ears, she began exploring all the elements of the Aegean: water, light, white, blue. While never an income generator, photography is what kept the artist sane as she navigated the challenges of single parenting, and endured the endless longing and aching for Homeland No. 2. Experimenting, early, with Emulsion Transfers, Coyle moved on to printing in her own dark room; then, to digital and iPhotography, constantly experimenting and exploring the new. Based in Sonoma, California, Coyle is an Expat Life Coach and Retreat Leader and continues to travel, photograph, and work with what feeds her soul, wherever she may be: the people, the water, the reflections, the abstract. Her current art may be found on Instagram (@chiarasophia1); contact her at [email protected]. (Author Head Shot Augment: René Laanen.)
4 Comments
Anita Sullivan
Beautiful and exciting work, Chiara-Sophia. I “feel” something different with each photograph. And I’m grateful for having my attention pulled into something I might have walked right past.
Chiara Sophia Coyle
Thank you, Anita! Enjoy Storefront Reflections from a new perspective now!
Karen Stiles
Interesting. Thought provoking. A side of your work I’ve not seen before. Like the author, and all of us on this planet, there is so much more than meets the eye; beneath the surface. How we see what is reflected back to us in life, as in the beauty, the perspective, within the eye of the beholder. Yet some things, are exactly as they appear in total simplicity, no other hidden agenda. I have on my wall a beautiful twisted film transfer framed and gifted many years ago by one of my oldest friends. All the more beautiful because of the meaning I give to it.
Chiara-Sophia Coyle
Thank you, Karen! So true. All in the eye of the beholder and an opportunity to keep searching for our own interpretation to imagery..