Alan Tonnesen Photography

Window Shot Series

While driving, we often see beautiful, funny, unique or meaningful scenes. The scene itself may be ephemeral, or more often, one cannot simply slam on the brakes to stop to compose a photograph. All the pictures in this series were taken through open or closed, clean or dirty, wet or dry automobile windows, while traveling in town or across the country. At first, I dismissed many of these shots because they were messy - water smears on the windshield, dirt, a stray mirror or sun visor. Gradually, I came to appreciate that for me, these "distractions" really helped to frame the scene and convey to me the urgency and transient nature of the scene and often a degree of separation - clearly the vantage point is that of an observer, not a participant. I hope you enjoy them. Click on each image for a larger picture.