A World Through My Window

I will never forget how awed I was when I first visited the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam 20 years ago and saw the real paintings, full-sized, which I had only seen previously in photo albums. I think I left the museum with tears in my eyes. Ruth Orkin's superb portfolio "A World Through My Window" had exactly the same effect on me. I first got to know this talented and sensitive artist when I saw the films she made in the fifties with her husband, Morris Engel : "Little Fugitive" and "Lovers And Lollipops". I was impressed by the depth of feeling expressed in the two movies and the exquisite quality of the pictures. Both Ruth and Morris were professional photographers, not movie-makers, but the aesthetics of the images in the film never got in the way of the story and of what was going on between the characters. The same can be said about "A World Through My Window". For almost 25 years, Mrs. Orkin took still pictures of Central Park West and its neighbourhood from the window of her apartment. The result is this delightful collection showing the unique NY City skyline in every type of weather, with the most incredible colors - pink, light and very dark gray, lilac, brown - mist hovering over the Park and forest, fireworks, elephants in the Park, band parades, marches against the Vietnam war, a philharmonic concert with thousands of spectators, a car crash just beneath her window. Visually her pictures are stunning and exciting. They show Ruth's great affection for her fellow human beings and the magnificent park facing her window. Every time I look at them I feel deeply touched. She is to be ranked amongst the very greatest photographers of her generation.