The Umbra of Earth
Image Credit & Copyright: Wang, LetianExplanation: The dark, inner shadow of planet Earth is called the umbra. Shaped like a cone extending into space, it has a circular cross section most easily seen during a lunar eclipse. For example, last Saturday the Full Moon slid across the southern half of Earth’s umbral shadow, entertaining moonwatchers around much of the planet. In the total phase of the eclipse, the Moon was completely within the umbra for 51 minutes. Recorded from Beijing, China, this composite eclipse image uses successive pictures from totality (center) and partial phases to trace out a large part of the umbra’s curved edge. Background stars are visible in the darker eclipse phases. The result shows the relative size of the shadow’s cross section at the distance of the Moon, as well as the Moon’s path through Earth’s umbra.
Posts tagged shadow.
I want to assimilate with my shadows, but they exist everywhere I turn. I can’t -or at least haven’t yet grasped how to keep them from casting over me. It feeds the pain that builds up in the cavity of my chest when I touch the thought. And the further I go, the more prevalent the thought.
As I was reflecting on a recent note by In Place of Time, I remembered the poem I posted a couple of months ago: “My Shadow” by Orhan Veli Kanik.
“I’m sick and tired of dragging it along
On the tip of my foot year in year out
In this world we ought to live for a while
My shadow all by itself
And I all by myself.”
Maybe the world needs a support group for people who cannot live with their shadows. Why not?! I should get on that…
Stereo Hearts by Gym Class Heroes
I extracted more shadows for you. I keep hearing this song around, and finally wanted to look up what these guys looked like. Of course, I was overjoyed when I saw the video. Since they were so cool to use shadow play in their video, I had to extract those shadows and feature here.
I wanted to create a single page collage, but I could barely choose from some 80 still shots I took from the video, and ended up putting together a four-page album. But who’s complaining…right?
Close Encounters
I have been meaning to write about Ayhan Gunaydin’s “Close Encounters” series for a very long time, now. The reason I couldn’t get around to it was that I tried to find the words that would be able to (even remotely) express how I feel about them.
He published the “encounters” on March 13, 2010. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration if I say that they took my breath away as soon as I saw them. I wasn’t actively practicing my projection art back then, but I guess, it was brewing in my subconscious and the series hit a sensitive spot deep in there.
This series is not just shadows on the street. There is quietening poetry. They flare up the imagination with playful notes and movement. The light source has a direction and turns into a spotlight for the headliner; maybe they are a child’s daydreams. Light, subject, and action transcend original motive; shadows create a life of their own.
I found a convergence the other day. I will post it soon. Meanwhile check out more of Ayhan
Sometimes, a shadow can create more fear than the source itself…
