When something is illuminated, our eye is typically drawn to the light and/or the thing being lit. But, do you ever stop to notice the shadows that are created? The negative space, the shapes, the full story? Just as we cannot have light without dark and vice versa, we cannot have spotlights without shadows.
Light
When we want to see something more clearly, we add light. Simple idea. We do the same when we want to be seen or noticed. We shine the literal or proverbial spotlight on ourselves for that moment. But, there is always more behind those moments. A build, a period of work, a story – much more than what meets the eye in the moment of spotlight shining. These are the shadows…
Shadows
…and the shadows are often the most beautiful parts. We simply have to take the time to notice them, ask questions, look with different eyes.
Shadows are evidence of impact.
Shadows are the contrast and completion of beauty.
The brighter the light, the darker the shadows.
Today’s Project 31 image at the top of this post is an example of what I see when there is hard light. I look for shadows rather than things. The shapes and angles are infinitely interesting to me, offering up an entirely different story than the thing creating it in the first place. In different light I might explore the pod and its textures, but today the shadows and curves win.
Recovery Shadows
There is a corollary life cycle to surgeries and recoveries The lead up to the day, surgery itself, and the first few weeks afterwards are the period of spotlight. But then, you’re left alone to do the long slow work of recovery and rehab – the work of being in the shadows. For me, when I realize that this is the place I am in, I can embrace it and see it for its own beauty. It is definitely evidence of impact and, weirdly, full of its own beauty.
Look For Shadows
Today, with our low-hanging, nearly Winter Solstice sun angle, look for shadows and the stories they tell. Contrast, shape, light and dark. What speaks to you?
Here are two examples from my personal galleries. Do you see the stories?
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