Marilyn Minter, *Target*, 2017.
Dye sublimation print, 40 x 30 inches

Written by Nikkala Kovacevic

Photo Edited by Christiana Nelson

For Alice, the mirror, or “looking glass,” acts as a portal to a fantastical wonderland. Now, the Yancey Richardson Gallery reimagines the mirror’s symbolism through a collection of photographs whose composition spanned decades. This collection, titled Through the Looking Glass, poses the mirror as not just a utilitarian object but a conduit to vanity, an object allowing a voyeuristic glimpse into its subjects’ personal lives, as well as a tool to shift and contort reality.

Laura Letinsky, *Untitled, Laura and Eric (bra),* from *Venus Inferred*, 1993.
Archival pigment print, 20 x 24 inches.

Sage Sohier’s Mum in Her Bathtub, Washington, D.C., (2002) reveals the camera’s presence in an otherwise private scene. Photographer Sage Sohier photographed her mother and, in this piece, her mother stares into her own reflection as Sohier shrinks behind the camera. This piece expresses the revealing nature of the mirror, presenting it as a device that can perceive reality but also reveal what otherwise would not be seen. A similar (yet almost inverse) device is used in Laura Letinsky’s Untitled, Laura & Eric (dress) from Venus Inferred (1995), in which the mirror conceals the otherwise nude body of Laura.

The mirror’s poetic ability is clear, much like the camera’s is. Both mirrors and cameras allow ordinary people and artists alike to both reveal and rewrite the intricacies of reality. Andre Kertesz’s Distortion No. 40 (1933/1981) resembles Alice’s adventures a little more closely, bending and warping the skin of its subject, presenting a newly created reality that coexists with the one on the other side of the mirror. Ana Mendieta, Hotel Principal, Oaxaca (1973) by Hans Breder achieves an equally distorted reality, morphing its subject into a six-legged creature simply with the use of two mirrors. In these photos, the mirror’s magical ability feels tangible. To look through the looking glass is to suspend disbelief as much as it is to reflect reality.

Carolyn Drake, *Adrienne and Zion,* 2018.
Archival pigment print, 38 3/8 x 51 inches.

Hans Breder, *Ana Mendieta, Hotel Principal, Oaxaca,* 1973.
Platinum print, 20 x 24 inches.

Zanele Muholi’s Lishonile, BellCourt, Seattle (2019) is also featured in this exhibition. Originally part of a series of portraits by the artist, Lishonile was first released simply with an empty mirror in the backdrop, the focus mainly on the subject herself. Now, the portrait features an additional reflection in the mirror, aptly placing the focus onto the hidden detail of the mirror itself. This addition is subtle yet completely changes the piece thematically while adding to its relevance among the exhibition’s other photos.

Zanele Muholi, *Bona III, ISGM, Boston,* 2019.
Gelatin silver print, 24 x 31 1/2 inches.

Through the Looking Glass celebrates the mirror in all its facets. Despite a relatively constraining theme, the individual pieces included in the exhibition could not be more different. Viewers are invited to appreciate the mirror’s varied ability to reflect the individual style of each photographer. An introspective collection, each piece in Looking Glass creates a detailed portrait of its subject. More so than average portraits, these offer viewers a multifaceted glimpse into a life, both the external and internal complexity that comprises a whole identity.