He wrote "Mirrors and Windows: American Photography Since 1960" (1978) identifying a dichotomy between strategies of pictorial expression in American photography; "It seems to this viewer that the difference between White and [Robert Frank relates to the difference between the goal of self-expression and the goal of exploration." Though not all photographers in the book are American (Frank was Swiss, for example), the pictures were taken and/or exhibited there. The publication is divided almost equally into Parts I (pps. 29–86) and II (pps. 87–148). His 'Mirror' analogy represents self-reflective photography, represented in the book by Jerry N. Uelsmann, Paul Caponigro, Joseph Bellanca, Gianni Penati, Ralph Gibson, Duane Michals, Judy Dater and others; while the idea of the 'Window' is found in the documentary approach, exemplified by inclusions of work by Diane Arbus, Lee Friedlander, Henry Wessel, Joel Meyerowitz, and Garry Winogrand.