Week #2 Silhouette

This week for my lighting blog, I specifically looked for silhouette for picture. I got thinking about silhouette after working on my lighting cue assignment (there is mention of silhouette in the choreographer's notes). I started wondering what kind of feelings can be attributed to silhouettes and how they are used.

I've always thought of the silhouette as being used to create a 'sexy' look. You see it all the time at dance recitals in the beginning of tap and jazz routines. To be honest, I've never really liked silhouettes, they've always felt a bit corny to me.

My preconceived notions of silhouette couldn't be more different than the feelings I get from this picture. The image was taken at a parking lot at UCI and the lighting turns an otherwise unexceptional view into a charged image. I love the way the darkness in the foreground contrasts the pastels in the sky it gives the impression of being calm and grounded. I also like the way the silhouette flattens out the image and makes it sort of 2D. This impression makes me feel like what I'm looking at is important, like it was stamped into the frame.