Shadows

Although I don't consider myself a photographer, for the last year I've been taking photos of shadows. I've posted samples below.

At first I wondered if something lurid about shadows which appeals to me "What evil lurks in the heart of men. Only The Shadow knows..." was a line from a mystery radio show before television.

And there is the Shel Silverstein poem.

Every time I've raced my shadow
When the sun was at my back,
It always ran ahead of me,
Always got the best of me.
But every time I've raced my shadow
When my face was toward the sun,
I won.  

Or the Robert Louis Stevenson poem...

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,   
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.   
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;   
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.   
   
The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow—
Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;   
For he sometimes shoots up taller like an India-rubber ball,   
And he sometimes gets so little that there’s none of him at all.   
   
He hasn’t got a notion of how children ought to play,   
And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.
He stays so close beside me, he’s a coward you can see;   
I’d think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!   
   
One morning, very early, before the sun was up,   
I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;   
But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head, 
Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed. 

Then I decided shadows are a metaphor for another dimension.

When we write about a character we may not give all the characteristics that are in our imagination for that person, but they are still there. Because of those shadows, the character does or does not act in the same way s/he would have if they were not there.

It holds true in real life too. We all have shadows that follow us...they just can't be caught by a camera. To me, they make what I see prettier, more interesting.

Bikes make shadows that I feel I could almost pedal.

Not just shadows but fairy lights on the tray. Can't wait to see it at Christmas.

Colored shadows.

These shadows are only slightly lighter than their trees.