Windows as Simple Frames

Observations on the quiet composition offered by ordinary windows.

A window is not only a source of light and air. It is also a frame that organizes whatever lies beyond it into a ready-made composition. The rectangle it creates is simple, yet it performs the same work that more deliberate frames do in painting or photography — it selects and contains a portion of the visible world.

Over the course of a day this frame changes its content. Morning light makes the glass almost disappear; afternoon light turns it into a bright plane; on overcast days the frame holds a softer, more even field of grey. Paying attention to these changes requires no equipment beyond the decision to stand still for a few minutes and notice what the window is offering at that moment.