Festival Art Souterrain

The series Out My Window—capturing intimate scenes viewed through the windows of urban buildings—is the most striking body of work by American artist Gail Albert Halaban. Initiated in 2007, the project poetically explores everyday life seen from neighbouring vistas. The New York City series serves as an in-depth reflection on the role of windows, which act as both symbolic and physical thresholds between private and public spaces. This project immerses viewers in shared intimacies and fragmented narratives, offering a meditation on human interactions within the places we inhabit.

She invites us to reconsider our living spaces as both a material anchor and a refuge—the theatre of our complex human histories—and as spaces for interaction and projection. Her photographs serve as a mirror for contemporary social dynamics, addressing themes such as cohabitation, urban solitude, the desire for connection, and the voyeuristic aspects of human behaviour. Recently, the work has been enhanced by integrating narratives activated through QR codes, creating a unique interaction between images and stories.

The artist’s passion for photography began in childhood. Her work blurs the line between documentary and staged photography and explores the complexity of human relationships through private spaces while providing rich, cinematic visual compositions. Her distinctive visual language is characterized by harmonious composition, effective use of light, and engaging visual narratives.

Albert Halaban studied at the Rhode Island School of Design, Brown University, and Yale University, where she earned her MFA in Photography (1996). Her work is included in various public and private collections, such as the Fondation Hermès, George Eastman Museum, Yale University Art Gallery, Nelson-Atkins Museum, and the renowned Getty Museum.