Lecture: Photography & Shadows

Today's lecture was directed towards looking at shadows in photography. They can be used to create atmosphere if included in the shot, they add depth to the picture and make things 3D and if they are not included in the shot, there is usually a good reason why.
We had to go to the library and find some examples of shadow photography. After getting there last (and having a lengthy search) I finally found a couple of examples out of "The Photo Book".

The first picture I found was taken by Martine Franck in 1976, "Le Brusc, South Of France" The picture is below. This picture is a great example of a distinct shadow, but one that is separate to the subject. The photographer has cropped the image to make sure that the shadow underneath is not attached to anything at either side, making it almost look like a reflection rather than a shadow. This picture however has been taken on location and I did not find a picture like this that had been taken in a studio.



The other image I found was by Jaromir Funke, "Untitled" 1927, shown below.



This picture consists of only shadows, and no actual objects. This was probably done in a studio due to the amount of control in the lights and the position of the glass bottles, though I can not be sure. I love it in black and white as it adds to the mystery of the picture; as there are no actual objects in the picture; one wonders how shadows can be this alluring and interesting to look at.

Shadows are not something one would normally include in studio work; as you have a large white background you sometimes expect to keep it that way. This little bit of reseach shows that shadows can be a good thing and add things to a picture rather than taking focus away.