The days are lengthening, the clocks have changed, and we are experiencing more bright weather days. We may well want to forget the darkness of a long night or the gloom of a winter evening closing in for now. But the brighter the light is the stronger our shadows are – they literally follow us everywhere!

Junichiro Tanizaki (author of In Praise of Shadows) says “we find beauty not in the thing itself but in the patterns of shadows, the light and the darkness, that one thing against another creates… Were it not for shadows, there would be no beauty”.

So let’s acknowledge our shadows… The shadows attached to our feet as we walk, or the shadows we see all around us. We can watch them, notice their shapes, watch what they do to the colour and texture of the word around us.  How strong is your shadow today? Does it have defined, clear outlines, or it soft and hazy on the edges? What is your light source? Which direction is it coming from?  Perhaps you can see multiple shadows, maybe they are moving with you as you walk, passing you by as you travel in a car, or slowly growing and fading as the sun passes behind clouds… 

If we play with our shadows what shapes do they make? What appears from our shadows?

  
Sometimes we just need to be still for long enough to really notice…

 
Sometimes someone else needs to notice for us…

Bruce Nauman

Changing Light Corridor with Rooms (1971)

Vilhelm Hammershoi

Interior, Sunlight on the Floor (1906)

Paul Strand

Wall Street (1915)

Eva Christensen

Vizsla and the Sun in an Empty Room (2018)

Henry Moore

Tunnel Arch and Window (1971)

Edward Hopper

Morning Sun (1952)

Cornelia Parker

Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View (1991)

If you're quick enough to capture your shadow and would like to share it with others, either with a photo, a drawing, a painting, or in any other way, then why not share your shadow on our Facebook group?