P52 Week 7 - Back Light

My daughter’s Project 52 is a photography exercise – hence the lighting references: sidelight last week, backlight this week. In my weekly pages that accompany her project prompts, I will no doubt have to riff off of many technical photography terms. Sigh!

The Project 52 moderator technically defines backlight as a controlled technique, intended to produce depth or separation of subject and background.

OK. So, lighting from the back creates depth. If we use light as a metaphor, we may say that backlight comes from how we have lived our lives and perhaps the depth from such illumination may even be seen as an accumulation of wisdom. I hope I am lit up from my past with a lot of depth. Surely I’ve gained some measure of profoundness for I am pushing 65 years!

Separation of subject from background. Yes, I have been able to – to some extent – separate myself from my past. I think that ability too comes with age – and with wisdom if some of it has been picked up along the way. I’ve learned to let go of some of my anger and blame. I have gotten better at accepting my part in the dysfunction that makes up my past and that allows me some distance. ‘The past is in the past’ as the Frozen song says.

Oh, I can year my kids now: “Not again, Mom, stop bursting into song when you hear a phrase!” Sorry kids, I can’t help it. Anyway, the past is less able to whipsaw me this way and that, like a dog clasping a play toy in his teeth and flinging it to and fro. I am able for the most part to ‘let it go.’ Come to think of it, the lyrics of Let It Go have quite a lot to say about my life:

Don't let them in, don't let them see
Be the good girl you always have to be
Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know

Hmm, I did a lot of hiding as a youngster

It's funny how some distance
Makes everything seem small
And the fears that once controlled me
Can't get to me at all!

… Wow, I’m thinking that that’s another illustrative description of backlight separation.

All right, all right kids! I’m done with the song references.

Back to backlight. Light from behind shows our shadow in front of us and thus makes our reflection easier to see. If we use our physical shadow as a metaphor for unconscious shadow material – that which we hold onto which is below our everyday consciousness – seeing our shadow looming in front of us can be pretty unnerving. The concept of Jungian shadow comes in two forms, both of which we tend to reject or remain ignorant of: the negative shadow because that’s the least desirable aspects of our personality; the positive because those qualities are hard to acknowledge, especially in those of us with low self esteem.

So backlight gives me a direct look at my shadow. Hello, hello! There I am procrastinating again. Really? Dang, what’s that about anyway? Come on shadow, get behind me. It’s too hard to look at you. Or maybe it’s my positive shadow that stares me in the face. Oh my, perhaps I do have a sweetness about me that I find so hard to acknowledge. Oh no, really, I’m not sweet. I’m more of a cold person. Where did that sweetness thought come from? It’s not me.

I’m done! That’s enough of looking at unconscious shadow material for I’m beginning to squirm. Better to change the subject. I could use another song reference here to get some separation from my unconscious shadow like

Me, and my shadow….

Not a soul can bust this team in two
We stick together like glue…

Yep, it’s tough to shake that unconscious shadow material and yep, I’m sorry again, kids. I’ll give the song references a miss…for now….

Oh, I have another thought with backlight: what about auras as backlight? No, don’t even get me started on that…