Albert-Halaban’s new series, Vis à Vis, is set in Paris, where she peers through and photographs what’s behind the windows in the French city’s apartments and courtyards. Instead of being the voyeur, however, Albert-Halaban is an active participant, stage-managing each scene. The residents are knowingly photographed, as if actors on the film set. They willingly share their intimate, domestic moments: a child’s birthday party, a woman greeting her guests in the foyer, a man reading a book under a dim lamp. The stories and narratives that are told are familiar and open-ended, with Albert-Halaban leaving infinite possibilities as to how the scenes could unfold.
