Shadows aren’t a popular photography subject in landscapes. They’re overlooked a lot of the time, even though they can add so much depth and perspective to a photo. Portrait photography uses shadows to create dimension, but in landscapes there’s not much featured on the dark shade from subjects. A lot of the time shadows just tend to blend in, fitting into the photo like murky puzzle pieces.
I’ve been partaking in an art class for a few months now, and we learned about negative space early on in our lessons. Negative space is the area around objects, and it can really help artists to focus on the shapes and patterns of a subject than rather the whole, complex scene. Since learning about negative space, I’ve found myself studying objects much more closely, looking at the area around them and how I would draw it.
I think of shadows as negative space, too. They curve into the world, cutting through light and adding dark streaks of texture and interest to the human eye. Seeing shadows on the snow has brought to light – no pun intended – how stark and beautiful they are.
Perhaps focusing on shadows can give a more complete perspective on the world, an entire picture, a full story. Paying attention to the whole truth – the light and dark, bright and shadow, joyful and melancholic, bittersweet and sanguine – is the path to omniscient observations. We need more of this in our lives.
Similar to comedians, who alter our perspective to find humour in normal day situations, you guide us to a new perspective of the subjects you capture in your photography! Thank you!
Thanks for your comment, Gramps!