THE EXPERIMENTAL ART OF SHADOWS NOW

Shadows exist because of light, while at the same time, they block light’s rays. Artists work with this dichotomy to create both illusion and recreate reality. We are featuring two artists, each with distinct styles and effects, mastering the beauty of shadows. Check them out below.

DANI OLIVIER

Parisian photographer Dani Olivier works magic with shadow and light, manipulating their contrasts in patterns that caress his subjects.

By projecting colored lights, interrupted by stripes of shadow, onto nude female dancers, Olivier transforms them into spectacular surreal works of art. All are photographed against a matte black background.

Experimenting with light and shadow with every shoot, Olivier creates surreal imagery right in the camera. He never retouches the originals or enhances his images in Photoshop.

The models do not wear any enhancing accessories and only minimal makeup, so that the purity of their forms, as canvases for light and shadow has maximum impact.

You can see more of Olivier’s psychedelic light and shadow images on his Facebook and Instagram pages.

ANILA QUAYYUM AGHA

Breathtaking lacey shadows, cast on walls, ceilings and floors, emanate from magnificent sculptures created by award-winning Pakistani artist Anila Quayyum Agha.

Agha creates intricate geometric patterns by laser cutting holes through wooden cubes. She fills them with light, then suspends them from ceilings.

The shadows form patterns reminiscent of Islamic sacred spaces, such as the Alhambra .

The artist aims to make a political statement, given that in many Islamic communities, women are excluded from mosques and are barred from creative expression. Agha wishes to shine a light on her “sisters” lifting them out of the shadows of oppression.

Agha’s light and shadow patterns echo the contrasts between public and private, static and dynamic life.

Read more about Beautiful Shadows in New Books & Music That Illuminate the Beauty of Shadows Now, The Art & Science of Earth’s Shadows Now and Drink in Beautiful Shadows: Lemonade in the Shade.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact Daily Fix posts.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by Dani Olivier.
2. Image: by Dani Olivier.
3. Image: by Dani Olivier.
4. Image: by Dani Olivier.
5. Image: by Dani Olivier.
6. Image: Courtesy of Anila Quayyum Agha. Intersections.
7. Image: Courtesy of Anila Quayyum Agha. Intersections.
8. Image: Courtesy of Anila Quayyum Agha. Intersections.
9. Image: Courtesy of Anila Quayyum Agha. Intersections.
10. Image: by Dani Olivier.
11. Image: by BN App - Download now!
12. Image: by Dani Olivier.