The Danforth Art Museum in Framingham is currently presenting three photography exhibitions that collectively explore the medium’s ability to capture external reality, evoke internal reflections, and merge the two. The shows, running through December 20, offer varied perspectives on photography’s complex role as both a window to the outside world and a mirror to the artist’s inner experience.

Neal Rantoul’s “A Life in Photography” serves as the centerpiece of the museum’s offerings. The retrospective spans nearly six decades and includes close to 80 photographs that document diverse locations across the United States and abroad, from California and Utah to Iceland and Italy, as well as multiple sites in Massachusetts. While the images vividly portray these places, Rantoul’s distinct sensibility clearly shapes their presentation, blending the objective with the subjective.

Two series from the show frame the gallery space. One features black-and-white images of Solothurn, a small Swiss town taken in 1981, while the other presents recent color photographs of Shirley, a much smaller town near the artist’s home. Neither series includes people, but human presence is implied through architectural and structural details. Rantoul focuses particularly on the interplay between manmade forms and underlying geometry, often highlighting the softened rectilinear lines of old buildings. Among these, a notable image depicts two parked fuel trucks in Shirley, their grill fronts photographed head-on with an almost monumental dignity.

Elsewhere in the exhibit, Rantoul’s aerial photographs stand out. These images emphasize abstract patterns in western landscapes, connecting back to his early career as an abstract painter. A 2015 photograph of the Great Salt Lake, for example, recalls the painterly style of Richard Diebenkorn while also underscoring Rantoul’s enduring fascination with geometric forms.

Suzanne Gainer’s “Every Woman and Nobody” shifts focus inward, concentrating on the internal world through nearly two dozen color photographs. The series pairs close-ups of Gainer’s own body with natural elements such as a bird, a moth, clouds, and a broken eggshell. Each image is categorized under one of three Latin terms—medicina (medicine), mythos (myth), and memoria (memory)—to invite viewers into an introspective space centered on vulnerability, recollection, and survival.

Elizabeth Clark Libert’s “Boy Crazy” occupies a space at the intersection of external observation and internal memory. Comprising roughly three dozen unframed photographs alongside typed texts, the series functions as a mixed-media memoir largely focused on Libert’s two young sons. While the photographs capture moments of play and tenderness, Libert’s narrative underlines a complex emotional terrain shaped in part by her own past experiences with sexual trauma. The work interrogates themes of masculinity and maternal concern, juxtaposing the innocence of childhood with the mother’s fears for her children’s futures.

The Danforth will also host a panel discussion on photobooks on November 1 at 3 p.m., featuring Neal Rantoul alongside photographers Mercedes Jelinek, Frances Jakubek, Michael Hintlian, Henry Horenstein, and Richard Renaldi.