Gail Albert Halaban’s Out My Window is both a penetrating exploration of modern community and a group of moving and beautiful photographs. The project started when she moved to New York from Los Angeles. In an effort to combat feelings of loneliness and isolation, she began to use her art as a way of connecting with her neighbors. She starts by explaining her work to potential participants and asking for their involvement.

If they agree, Albert Halaban facilitates communication among the neighbors and arranges to photograph one from the window of the other. In this way, Albert Halaban employs photography as a form of social engagement. For despite platitudes about modern technology making the world a smaller place, this same virtual environment can also result in feelings of isolation and extreme self-absorption.

By connecting strangers who live across the street from each other, Albert Halaban’s expertly composed, beautifully rendered, large-scale photographs encourage viewers to take a fresh look at the people they see every day.