Confession: Window-Watching

I found myself completely entranced this morning by an article in today's Home section of the New York Times: Window Watchers in a City of Strangers.The piece elegantly peers into the lives of New York residents who watch their neighbors through their windows. Practices that might seem unsettling to outsiders are approached here as a reality of life for many New Yorkers, whose view out their windows often directly faces the private lives of neighboring strangers. The article introduces us to artists who find comfort in watching other artists work late at night; dueling dinner parties; family gatherings, and of course, sex and death. The resulting collage is a gentle look at a few much bigger questions: What's at the core of city living? Do collections of individuals whose lives surround one another's comprise a sort of family? Why do we watch other people, or why don't we?

"The artist Gail Albert Halaban explores the topic in a series of staged photographs, like the one above of a building on Third Avenue."

I admit to being a voyeur of sorts. I love glimpses into windows at night and enjoy seeing and listening to pedestrians on the sidewalk below my office window. While some might take a Big Brother approach to this sort of behavior, I feel more like a benevolent observer. Human behavior is fascinating to me, always, and I'm endlessly curious about people. The pitter-patter of conversation, pots clanging at the next place over... those sounds have always been comforting to me. And, ooh, I like the color of their walls... Ah, they're cooking together! See what I mean?

Peeking into other people's lives reminds me of one of my favorite quotes, courtesy of Mark Twain: "Inside of the dullest exterior there is a drama, a comedy, and a tragedy." I suppose, for me, glimpsing even the smallest of behaviors is a way to write these bigger stories in my own mind. And it's worth noting that I only enjoy watching strangers, not people I know.

Tell me: are you a window-watcher as well?

* For illustrations of some celebrated New York residents' views, see "Personal Views of the City," a slideshow featuring the work of Matteo Pericoli. There are so many gorgeous photos in the article, as well, but unfortunately only two of the them are in the online version.

PS: This discussion reminds me of The Lives of Others, an absolutely brillliant film. Netflix immediately.