The One Word Project continues and for August…yes August (Shelly and I are a little behind, but September is already coming along) the word is Shadow. I was really excited when I heard that it was shadow because I’m so drawn to high contrast compositions and a composition with an emphasis on shadow, in my mind naturally thinks of high contrast. For these shots I decided to take a trip down the street to the small down town of West Dundee on a sunny afternoon (the perfect makings for shadowy shots).
The photo above is what I would call my classic style of shooting…not so much about what I’m shooting as the composition that is created through the lens of my camera, one full of pattern, line, and a highly contrasting range of shades and tones.
While shooting for “Shadow” a new revelation popped into my head, as my ordinary eyes put on their shadow-finding-filters. The realization was that shadows really are like mini alternate realities of everyday objects. Shadows are beautiful compositions in of themselves as they are an altered version of the objects they mimic. With this realization you can see how my view shifted from focusing on the shadows pouring from an object, to focusing on the world of the shadow and the object as a secondary character in the story. So, hence the shots below of the table and chair sets.
Above: One of my favorite photos of this shoot.
Below: I love the way the shadows play on the facade of this old building.
Some of my favorite subjects are old buildings…it must be the architecture side of me coming out. I really enjoy how classical buildings have beautifully thought out detail work that truly is illuminated and made more pronounced when put in daylight that allows shadows to both shade and highlight these details all at the same time.
Hope you enjoyed these Shadow photos! Please check out Shelly Goodman’s photographs for Shadow this month at http://blog.shellygoodmanphotography.com/2012/09/07/one-word-project-shadow/. Shelly is shooting with medium format film and I can’t wait to see what she has!
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I can’t tell you how happy it made me to see your text that said you were so excited about the film you got back!
I know that wonderful feeling when there’s that little breakthrough that makes you feel like- hey, maybe I am getting the hang of this! I guess every artist lives for those moments!
Thanks for putting that into words for me.
Those first two photos are my favorites! It’s so interesting to me that when I start seeing you produce work again, I can pick out – yes, that’s Madison’s style. And your comment about shadows being “mini alternate realities of everyday objects” and “altered versions of the objects they mimic”…ummm yeah- genius, girl
Thanks Shelly! Seriously encouraging!
I love them all. Black & white is great for shadows! Great Job! Love you, Mom
Absolutely! Thanks Mom!