By Vladimir Brezina
This week’s Photo Challenge is Window: “Windows … are portals into the world’s stories. Glimpses into other people’s lives.”
From our window in the big city, we see ten thousand other windows light up as dusk falls—ten thousand stories all around us. It’s touching to realize, as a general proposition, that they are there.
But ten thousand are too many. There’s no special reason to look into one lighted window or another. And nobody worries about being the one among ten thousand that somebody might be watching. This is the big city. Hardly anybody even bothers to lower their blinds…
Vladimir Brezina (RIP) 
Johna Till Johnson
Wind Against Current 
The street looks lit up like a dance floor. Wow! city lights from a window. :)
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One advantage of living in a high-rise… :-)
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What a great way of putting it… life in a city is very much as you say, agreed upon anonymity to withstand living in such close quarters. And the tie in with windows is awesome! The photo is terrific as well, such great color.
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The city is overwhelmingly beautiful sometimes at dusk… :-)
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WOW!!! Fantastic shot…very cool photo!
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Thank you!!
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Wicked view! What a dream. Great shot.
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Thanks so much, Rob!!
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I love the observation that few bother to close their blinds…
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It struck me as strange at first… but now I understand it :-)
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A superb cityscape, an encapsulation of New York.
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Thank you, Marilyn!!
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Great shot and narrative, Vlad. Reminds me of an old TV show — Naked City. It closed with this line: “There are eight million stories in the Naked City. This has been one of them.” It is too many too much. That’s why neighborhoods are one good way to understand the city. Some people rarely leave their neighborhood. Huge cosmopolitan city made up of many provincial neighborhoods. Any other way would be even more impossible.
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Left to our own devices, we certainly hardly ever leave our own neighborhood. That is what visitors from out of town are for!
Thanks, Frank! :-)
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Uhm, Vladimir, … being tied up in a northern suburb of Houston at the moment, may I suggest you check out a couple specific windows on the east side of the High Line, somewhere in the 20’s? Just because it’s funny, there’s this one which obviously decided to offer an aggressive response to voyeurism … .
And at this place, could I ask you to check out a couple apartments immediately to the right, after dark? The shades are wide open in the daytime (I didn’t take a daytime pic) and I couldn’t help wondering whether they’re wide open at night too.
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Yes, downtown people sometimes crack under pressure… ;-)
Next time we visit the High Line, we’ll check them both out! It’ll be a good excuse to visit…
Thanks, Bob!
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This is excellent Vladimir – both the image and the sentiments.
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Thank you!!
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“Agreed upon anonymity” has practical limits on accomplishment, even when all parties are willing.
Sometime in the 80’s, in my 2nd-floor apartment of 15 years on Charlton [“Prince”] St and 6th Ave, where my picture window faced out the back of the building over 4 or 5 back yards of historic district Federal-style houses before further view was blocked by an apartment building next to WNYC’s current studio, I only remember one night when I couldn’t sleep.
I got up about 2:30a.m. and sat in my completely dark living room for a few minutes, looking out over the back yards of the adjacent houses. Suddenly, a light flickered in a large third-floor window of the apartment building 100 feet away. Only flickered for a few seconds, because that’s all it took for the completely nude woman standing squarely in the middle of the window to light her cigarette. That’s all I know, though I’ve pondered the statistical odds of that. Unexpected things come to those who are statistically selected at random.
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Yes, that’s the classic experience, à la Rear Window, and I was expecting something like that when we moved in here. And it’s certainly possible even here—especially if you have binoculars ;-) But these high-rises are set far enough apart that watching is rather unimpressive and unproductive. Disappointing, really… :-)
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So many windows! :-)
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NYC should think about instituting a window tax ;-)
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OMG! I’d never heard of this tax before. Wow! How very interesting! LOL! No window tax in NYC, please no! :-D
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Great city view… nice shot.
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Thanks so much! :-)
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Nicely done! As a trucker I used to watch the world wake up one light at a time :)
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I know exactly what you mean :-) It doesn’t quite work that way in Manhattan, however—many people seem to leave their lights on all night. The city that never sleeps, you know…
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Ah yes I would head into Boston each morning at 3 AM here to many rock the night away :)
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:-)
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:)
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lovely photo……a classic night life shot! :)
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Thank you!!
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Window against current!
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Nice! :-)
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Interesting perspective about no one bothering to lower their blinds. We found these huge high rises in China this summer, and it seemed that some windows never even got to see the sun — there were so many built one beside the other!
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The high-rise buildings in our neighborhood are far enough apart that, looking out of the window, your first impression is of the whole building rather than any individual window. But yes, the old tenements in NYC were just as you describe…
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Great view. Now we can see why you kayak in wild places…
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Yes, it’s quite a contrast… :-)
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Wow! Is this the view you enjoy every day? Magnificent!
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The different weather each day makes it even more interesting… :-)
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I love the colors and motion in this shot – beautiful!
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Thanks!!
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Wow, what a view!
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Some of the surrounding buildings have even better views, because they are higher :-)
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Ah well, who cares?
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Wow, that’s a lot of windows! I love the restricted palette in this shot.
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Thanks!! :-)
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Enjoyed the observation and the photo. Beautiful view.
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Thanks, Jeanne!! :-)
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What a dramatic life’s perspective you have… From skyscraper to centimeters above the water… all city-dwellers should have such balance!
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It averages out just about right… :-)
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Awesome view.
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Thanks—and thanks for reblogging! :-)
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You’re welcome! And thank YOU! ^_^
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Reblogged this on Locating Frankenstein's Brain.
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Amazing photo and great interpretation of the theme! I love it!
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So glad—thank you so much!! :-)
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Reminds me a bit of Dubai; lovely photo :)
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Thank you! :-)
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Great post; I really like your insight on the privacy afforded to individuals in the big city without their having to close themselves off from the outside world…that in their sheer numbers as a whole, the individual remains obscure, protected. I used to drive to a certain hilltop overlook in California to watch all of the city lights below and wonder what each person must be doing at that moment–watching TV, doing the dishes, answering the phone, suffering domestic violence, celebrating, enduring loneliness…with all those windows there must be an enormous variety of scenarios!
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Exactly! Horizontally in California, vertically in New York City… ;-)
Thanks for following our blog!!
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I adore Bob’s Peeping Tom…as for you Vladimir, small wonder Johna and yourself spend so much time on the water!
I live where the only windows in sight are my own. I see the moon and the stars at night when the skies are clear, mirrored, if I’m lucky, in some animal’s eyes.
Did Walter de-la-Mare once live in a like place?
Hope you’re no longer confined, by the way…though with a Grace-like Johna minding you…….? Nice post, keep well. :-)
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Yes, the city is a bit different ;-)
I am getting out and about—even though you are right, having Johna look after me has its own attractions… Thanks, Pamela!!
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