Where does the bench end and the shadow begin? Which is real? Sometimes the shadow is more visible than the original.
I'm in Stratford, Ontario and will be seeing Peter Pan (along with four other plays). It occurred to me as I started to write this that the play is about shadows too. Though Peter lost his shadow, it is also about the loss of childhood and the unwillingness to give up that life. Do we become shadows of that essential time in our lives?
While it would be nice to go back to the innocence of childhood, it is nice to live life larger - to travel through the greater world and have the independence and life experiences to see and learn and keep growing.
Daily Shoot: Find an interesting shadow--any shadow--and make a photograph of it. Consider your framing as you shoot.
The sun came out at the end of a very grey day, casting long shadows. Some were crisp and clear, others blurred. The long images, distortions of the original, show us aspects we may not have noticed.
I love the play of light and shadow, the way the shadows are drawn on the pavement, transitory, illusory - there to be appreciated for a short time and then they are changed and finally disappear. It is a reminder that we have to stop and cherish moments, take those images into our minds, to play with them later.
This is actually two photographs that have been juxtaposed - though the shadows on the door were created by this window. I just liked the idea of the positive and negative. The sun was low on the horizon, casting a golden glow on the door, projecting stripes from the blinds. I find it interesting that the shadow made the lines more obvious whereas in the window the lines seem to fade, letting the outdoor scene take precedence.
Sometimes a shadow can seem larger than life - as when we let worry take over. The worry becomes larger than the problem. Perhaps we should keep this window in mind - that usually there is a way through to the other side of problems and issues if we just look through them instead of focussing on the shadow the problem casts. It takes a lifetime to learn.
Shadowy stairs climbing up to a shadowy world. The shorter days bring us into darkness so much earlier. Each day we lose a few minutes of light. Street lights cast their glow creating doubles, while inside the television glows with the signal from alternate lives. I prefer to walk in the shadowy world where the fresh rain washed streets have a clean smell. I head down the street to a brightly lit church where a beautiful concert is my escape. Ah Bach who speaks to us from the shadows of the past with incredible clarity.
I've got wheels - perfect day to go out on a bike. I gingerly mount my wheeled steed, not yet steady. After years of not riding a bicycle, I dusted off my almost brand-new bike last season. Getting my balance and confidence again- not as easy as the years mount up. Here in the flat countryside is the perfect spot for a trial run. We meander through quiet streets and explore parts of this community we had not seen before. I've got wheels - and they start to feel more steady.
I find shadows fascinating - replicas of reality but also distortions. The street lamp drew these branches on the garage door - an ephemeral piece of art to be viewed in the moment. Shadows can be pale replicas or larger than life.
As life casts shadows on us, we react in different ways, sometimes growing from it and sometimes letting the shadow grow larger than it merits, immobilizing us through our worry. Carl Sandburg said, “Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance.” So I shall try to make a poem of my life and dance with the shadows.
As the eyes are opened you start to see - to notice colours, patterns, textures around you that you overlooked before. At the end of a day of shuffling papers, filing and digging out from my chaotic mountains of mail, I started to look around for a subject to photograph. I noticed this pattern on the ceiling, cast by the lamp that hangs in my hall. We usually look at what the light is shining down on - here we are reversed. How often do we overlook ideas seeing only the obvious? Time to look with the mind as well as the eyes to see what is behind the scenes.
Looking at the shadows like white piano keys to the darker keys of the balustrade - playing with rhythm on the snow. The music sunlight plays - lifting spirits on a glorious February day. Play on sun. Your songs last longer in the lengthening days. Bring back the melody of birds as you slowly chase winter away.
