A bit of serendipity, taken at the Getty Center in Los Angeles. I had recently bought a small digital point-and-shoot camera and went up to the Getty to give it a try.
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The afternoon sunlight cast strong oblique shadows on the central courtyard and I had great fun photographing people as they walked past. What appeals most to me about this image is the relationship of the woman and her shadow, both caught in mid-stride. There is a suggestion of the duality between reality and the shadow of reality, yin and yang, light and dark.
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I like the off-center position of the woman along with the strong diagonal of the shadow. The shadow balances out the composition while leading the eye across the frame from left to right and back again. Using B&W removes the distraction of color, letting the viewer focus on this moment of frozen time.