The View from the Rearview
by Mark Steiglman
As I was recently interviewed on the Leica Blog, I thought I would submit here as well.
Spending hours a day commuting in my car has made me acutely aware of my surroundings. One day while looking in my rear view mirror I became very interested in the comings and goings of the cars behind me. The scenes unfolded like little vignettes of humanity, people laughing, arguing, crying but mostly just looking bored and trapped within their heads as well as the glass and metal box they confine themselves to in their daily commutes. I wanted to capture what I was witnessing.
After working out the technical aspects, my first attempts lacked the direct, unreserved look I was after as people were recognizing the camera. There is a long history of documenting people without them noticing. Walker Evans shielded his camera within his coat while making his subway series. Ben Shahn, while documenting for the WPA used a right angle mirror attachment on his lens pretending to take pictures of his wife while actually shooting what was off to the side. I solved this problem by buying a small stuffed bird, ripping out the stuffing and cutting a hole for the lens. The bird cam has made it virtually impossible to know that I am photographing and my pictures suddenly became what I had seen on that day I conceived of the idea.
The imaginary line of public verses private space that the windshield seems to represent became my “monitor” for both real and imagined tableaus that raise so many interpersonal and social questions during the moment of exposure. Coming from the whole “social landscape photography” genre, these are the kinds of pictures I have always taken except now I am within the confines of my car taking photographs of my subjects within the confines of theirs.
Mark Steigelman
Interesting idea.
Thanks to everyone for your compliments.
Brilliant! Beautiful results!
Street meets road! 🙂
Very original clever idea and great execution, well done!
original, good effort
Cool idea!
Hi Steve and Brandon, Please correct the spelling of my name, and the Instagram link at the end has a The at the end making the link inactive. Thanks Mark
What a great idea
Thanks very much!
Awsome !!! Always had this idea in my head spending lot of time in the traffic jam as well….
Good job Man !
Good stuff Mark, great idea perfectly executed. So many of the scenes are so familiar.
Did you use a Leica?…just kidding.
Absolutely marvellous!!
Very good idea, and very nice shots! I think it’s great that you use your time stuck in the car to create something rather than to just sit and stare. I do the very same thing while commuting to work, only difference is that I’ve got my job within a walking distance. But I never walk this bit without a camera in my hand 🙂
Just checked out your work Mark. “Approach” and “Abuse” are standouts among an incredible field.
Best regards
Huss
Thanks very much. They are actually my favorites as well. I just use them a little too much.
“Abuse” is truly captivating