Shadow Life
May 1, 2015One of my favorite photographic practices is to look deeply into the details of reality until the subtle becomes the obvious.
One spring day I was visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and noticed the pattern of shadows cast on the floor by the bright lights in the galleries of ancient sculptures. The shadows seemed to come alive, perhaps even more than the masterpieces.
Despite the “no photography” rule I got out my medium format camera and shot from the hip. After a while a security officer came over and asked me if I was the artist/photographer they were watching on the monitors. Before I could respond he asked another question, “You’re not taking photos of the sculptures are you?” I smiled and said no, I was making photos of the shadows. He was so intrigued he asked if I would photograph his shadow too. In the series there is only one image of a real person’s shadow, indistinguishable from the rest. I appreciated his sense of playing along.
In Light, Cira
