17 Comments

I take them because they can be quite fun using shadow play without going into full selfie mode.

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Right? I usually surprise myself when I see my shadow. Like a groundhog waking up to see himself on the landscape. Thanks, Steven!

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I've never heard of it. Now I know I'm going to try it. :)

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Keep us posted! Cheers, John.

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I can say that I rarely make these because my photography is about the world outside myself. Shadow selfies are about connecting the landscape with me and being about me. In an image, there is The Thing Itself and its relation to something else in the frame that creates the narrative of the image. When you create a shadow selfie, the subject is shifted to your presence in the frame to some degree. When you look a Lee Friedlander photo, there is what the picture is about, what it is also about, and sometimes, Lee. When I make shadow selfies, I'm expressing the importance of my relationship to the subject rather than the relationship of the subject to a sunset or a passing cloud. My intent shifts from trying to invoke some feeling in the viewer to trying to let the viewer understand my feeling.

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You get to experience yourself out and about in the world in an unexpected way.

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It never occurred to me. Gonna give it a try.

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Ah! That's great. Let me know what you come up with. Cheers, Dave!

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Am I too late for this? I’ve got dozens

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Not too late. I still need to write this!

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Less risk than a double exposure?

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Are you still accepting and showing people's shadow selfies?

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Yes! I'll be looking for the next few weeks. Email anytime! Thanks for asking (and reading), Angela.

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Cool. I've got some for you!

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I don't, but my fave is Olive Cotton's 1935 'The Photographer’s Shadow' which includes her partner and fellow photographer Max Dupain who would go on and take the infamous 1937 Sunbaker photo

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I wasn't familiar with that picture. Thanks for sharing it with me, Kaitlyn!

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Nov 16, 2022
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I'm hearing this from a lot of folks — that play is a big part of these pictures. Thanks, Roxanne!

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