Silhouettes
Silhouette photography captures subjects as dark shapes against bright backgrounds, emphasising form over detail and creating powerful visual statements through contrast. This week, we will explore the rich history, artistic significance, and practical techniques of silhouette imagery, from its ancient origins to contemporary digital practice.
Definitions of Silhouette Imagery
Silhouette photography involves creating images where subjects appear as dark shapes against a lighter background. This technique reduces subjects to their outline and form, eliminating internal detail. There are two main categories:
Perfect silhouettes: The subject appears completely dark against a bright background, making its shape fully recognisable but devoid of internal detail.
Partial silhouettes: Only portions of the subject appear in darkness, with some areas illuminated, creating a more nuanced effect that can suggest mystery or transition.
Historical Foundations of Silhouettes
Ancient Origins
The concept of silhouettes has remarkably ancient roots. Pliny the Elder's Natural History (c. 77 CE) suggests that the very origins of art itself might be found in tracing outlines of human shadows. According to Pliny, "We have no certain knowledge as to the commencement of the art of painting... but they all agree that it originated in tracing lines round the human shadow". This fundamental practice appeared across many early civilisations, with Greek black-figure pottery (7th-5th centuries BCE) representing one of the most refined early applications of silhouette aesthetics.
The Birth of Silhouette Portraiture
While profile portraits were known as "profiles," "shades," or "shadow portraits" for centuries, the term "silhouette" has a peculiarly specific origin. It derives from Étienne de Silhouette, a French finance minister who served King Louis XV briefly in the mid-18th century.
During the Seven Years' War in 1759, de Silhouette imposed harsh economic measures upon the French, particularly the wealthy. His name became synonymous with anything done inexpensively, and the phrase "à la silhouette" came to indicate something reduced to its simplest form.
Before photography became widespread in the mid-19th century, silhouette portraits offered an accessible form of personal memento. Their affordability compared to painted portraits made them extremely popular during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Technical Evolution
Silhouette artists employed several techniques during the art form's golden age:
Shadow tracing: Early artists used shadowgraph screens to trace profiles by candlelight, directly referencing their etymology as "shades".
Physiognotrace: Based on the pantograph, this mechanical device traced a subject's profile with a thin metal rod that simultaneously produced a miniature outline on paper.
Painting methods: Artists such as John Miers specialised in painting silhouettes onto plaster using soot mixed with beer, allowing for delicate renderings of hair and lace.
Cut paper: Perhaps the most recognisable form, cut paper silhouettes involved either cutting freehand or after tracing an outline.
Optical devices: In the Regency period, portable camera obscuras and camera lucidas gained popularity, eventually leading toward photographic technologies.
By the 1860s, the rise of photography meant that most silhouette artists either adopted the camera or went out of business. The traditional hand-crafted silhouette transformed from fashionable portraiture into folk art, though its aesthetic principles would continue to influence visual media for centuries to come.
Silhouettes in Visual Arts History
From Paper Cutting to Photography:
The transition from manual silhouette creation to photographic silhouettes represented both technological evolution and aesthetic continuity. When photography emerged in the early 19th century, it revolutionised Victorian visual culture by offering unprecedented authenticity in representation. However, photographers quickly recognised the power of silhouette aesthetics within this new medium.
Early photographers exploring silhouette techniques included Alvin Langdon Coburn, whose photographs of New York City in the early 20th century sometimes employed silhouette effects. In one notable image of the Flatiron Building, Coburn created the appearance of the structure "backlit by moonlight, throwing the skyscraper and clouds behind it into silhouette". This demonstrated how silhouette techniques could enhance architectural photography and create mood.
Artistic Applications and Influence:
Silhouettes have influenced numerous artistic movements and practices:
Animation: The principles of silhouette art found application in early animation, particularly in the pioneering work of Lotte Reiniger (1899-1981), who was "the foremost pioneer of silhouette animation". Her film "The Adventures of Prince Achmed" (1926) remains the oldest surviving feature-length animated film and demonstrates the narrative potential of silhouette aesthetics.
Modernist photography: In the early 20th century, photographers moved away from pictorialism toward modernist approaches—the stark contrasts and emphasis on form inherent in silhouette techniques aligned well with new aesthetic sensibilities.
Contemporary art: Modern artists have expanded the conceptual applications of silhouettes. Kara Walker, perhaps the most prominent contemporary silhouette artist, uses silhouettes to explore complex themes of race, gender, violence, and cultural identity. Her work demonstrates how the silhouette, despite its apparent simplicity, can communicate profound and challenging ideas.
Music: In 1975, the legendary artist Freddie Mercury saw a little silhouetto of a man, which caused him to famously ponder whether Scaramouche would, indeed, do the Fandango.
Practical Guidance for Smartphone Photographers
Essential Techniques: For beginners approaching silhouette photography with smartphones, several key techniques will improve results:
Find strong backlighting: The fundamental challenge of silhouette photography is exposure. The photographer must expose for the bright background, causing the subject to appear underexposed. Position yourself with a bright light source, usually the sun, behind your subject. Sunrise and sunset offer particularly favourable conditions with softer, more colourful light.
Control exposure manually: On iPhones, tap the brightest part of the screen and swipe down to darken the image further. On Android devices, tap the brightest area and swipe left, though controls may vary by manufacturer.
Lock focus and exposure: Even though the silhouette will appear dark, maintaining sharp focus on the subject remains essential to preserve a crisp outline. Tap and hold on your subject for about two seconds until you see "AE/AF Lock" appear (on iPhones) or equivalent on Android devices. This prevents the camera from continuously adjusting as you compose.
Mind your flash: Ensure it is turned off, as it would illuminate your subject and ruin the silhouette effect.
Shoot in burst mode: Techniques such as burst mode or Live Photos help capture the perfect moment of movement for dynamic silhouettes, increasing your chances of getting the ideal shape.
Composition Strategies: Beyond technical settings, thoughtful composition enhances silhouette photography:
Subject selection: The most effective silhouettes feature distinct, recognisable shapes. For human subjects, profiles and extended limbs create more dynamic silhouettes than frontal poses. Similar principles apply to other subjects—their distinctive outlines must be immediately recognisable.
Simplify backgrounds: Clean, uncluttered backgrounds help silhouettes stand out more effectively. A clear sky or a large, uniform, bright surface works best.
Watch the edges: Ensure your subject doesn't merge with other dark elements in the frame, which would disrupt the clean outline.
Consider negative space: The relationship between the dark subject and bright surrounding space creates visual tension and interest.
Look for interaction: Multiple silhouetted subjects interacting often create more compelling narratives than single figures.
Exploit symmetry: Reflections in water can create stunning symmetrical silhouettes, doubling the visual impact.
Post-Processing Enhancement: Many photographers enhance their silhouette images in post-production, increasing contrast and sometimes saturation (particularly for sunset silhouettes) to make the dark silhouette stand out more dramatically against the background. Most smartphone silhouette photographs benefit from some adjustments:
Increase contrast: Boosting contrast helps define the boundary between the silhouette and background.
Adjust blacks: Deepening the black tones ensures the silhouette appears completely dark.
Enhance colours: For sunset silhouettes, slightly increasing saturation can enhance the vibrant backdrop without affecting the black silhouette.
Crop strategically: Removing extraneous elements focuses attention on the silhouette and its relationship with the background.
Consider conversion: Sometimes a colour silhouette photograph works even better in black and white, especially when the form rather than the colourful background is the primary interest.
Contemporary Creative Approaches
Mixed Media Techniques: Modern photographers and artists frequently combine traditional silhouette approaches with innovative techniques:
Paper cutout integration: Following Paperboyo's example, creating paper silhouettes to hold in the frame can transform ordinary scenes into whimsical or thought-provoking images.
Window painting: Inspired by Pejac, painting silhouettes on glass, then photographing them against appropriate backgrounds creates the illusion of silhouetted figures interacting with the outside world.
Digital compositing: Creating digital silhouettes and incorporating them into photographs expands creative possibilities beyond what can be achieved in-camera.
Conceptual Applications: Contemporary silhouette photography often carries conceptual weight beyond mere aesthetics:
Environmental commentary: Silhouettes of natural elements against industrial backgrounds (or vice versa) can create powerful environmental statements.
Identity exploration: Following Kara Walker's example, silhouette photography can explore identity by reducing people to outlines and questioning what details we use to categorise individuals.
Narrative sequences: A Series of silhouette images can tell stories through shape and form alone, challenging photographers to communicate without relying on facial expressions or detailed environments.
Famous Silhouette Photographers Through History
Silhouette photography reduces subjects to their essential forms, creating powerful images that emphasise shape and composition while often conveying a sense of mystery and timelessness. Throughout history, numerous photographers have distinguished themselves through their masterful use of this technique, creating iconic images that continue to influence contemporary visual culture.
Alvin Langdon Coburn (1882-1966): While primarily known for his pictorialist work and later abstract "Vortographs," Coburn experimented with silhouette techniques in his architectural photography of New York, creating images that suggested futurity and abstraction.
Fan Ho (1931-2016), often called the "Cartier-Bresson of the East," was a celebrated Chinese street photographer renowned for his captivating images of Hong Kong during the 1950s and 1960s.
His photographic style is characterised by a remarkable use of light and shadow. He frequently shot in the early morning or late afternoon when the sun was low in the sky, creating dramatic and atmospheric images. Fan Ho often shot into the light to create silhouettes and flood scenes with diffuse illumination, adding a sense of mystery and drama to his work.
Some of Fan Ho's most iconic images include "Approaching Shadow," "On the Stage of Life," and "Into The Light". His compositions frequently feature geometric patterns and silhouettes, emphasising the interplay between human figures and urban architecture. This approach transformed everyday street scenes into powerful visual narratives, earning him recognition as one of the most important street photographers of the 20th century.
Herb Ritts (1952-2002) was an American fashion photographer renowned for his elegant, minimalist images that graced the covers of prestigious magazines like Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Rolling Stone.
Ritts' photographic style is characterised by simplicity, elegance, and strong graphic compositions. He often used natural light to create a sense of warmth and intimacy in his images, and his black-and-white photography contributed to their timeless quality. His approach to lighting and composition transformed his subjects—models, actors, or musicians—into sculptural forms.
One of Ritts' most celebrated photographs is "Backflip, Paradise Cove, 1987," which captures a subject mid-flight with California's Pacific coast as backdrop. This image exemplifies his use of silhouette to highlight the human form in its most dynamic aspects. By reducing the subject to a dark outline against a bright background, Ritts emphasises the graceful lines of the body while creating a sense of movement frozen in time.
Ritts returned to the landscape of southern California and the expanses of the desert throughout his career. He explained that, as seen through a lens, these environments could "abstract into light and texture and line and shade"—qualities revealed in his striking photographs of German actress and model Tatjana Patitz, photographed in the desert for British Vogue in 1988.
Kara Elizabeth Walker (1969-) is an American contemporary painter, silhouettist, printmaker, installation artist, filmmaker, and professor who explores race, gender, sexuality, violence, and identity in her work. She is best known for her room-size tableaux of black cut-paper silhouettes. Though primarily known as a visual artist rather than a photographer, Walker's influential silhouette work has significantly impacted contemporary photography's engagement with silhouette aesthetics.
Nicolas Bouvier is a contemporary photographer who has gained recognition for his atmospheric silhouette images set against the landscapes of the Pacific Northwest. His technique involves placing figures in foggy atmospheres and shooting against the sun, turning passersby and, often, images of his own children into anonymous silhouettes. Rather than using complex equipment, he carries only smaller cameras like a Panasonic ZS40 or a Leica XVario, preferring "ergonomy, simplicity, and design over more elaborate setups."
Bouvier’s photographs portray figures exploring natural settings in stark, mysterious contrast. By reducing human presence to dark outlines against breathtaking landscapes, Bouvier creates images that evoke a sense of both scale and mystery. The anonymity of the silhouetted figures allows viewers to project themselves into these scenes, enhancing their emotional impact.
Chris Burkard is a world-renowned photographer known for authentically capturing nature and adventure. His approach focuses on untamed, powerful landscapes layered with outdoor, travel, adventure, surf, and lifestyle subjects. Burkard deliberately uses silhouette lighting to enhance the timeless quality of his work. He explains, "I also utilise a lot of silhouette lighting to make my images more timeless. I try to avoid including details like a big branded shirt or anything that will allow you to tell when an image was taken."
Burkard establishes a sense of scale by incorporating silhouetted human figures in vast landscapes. He notes that adding this human element immediately gives a viewer a context to grasp how large a landscape or scene is, making it much more relatable. This technique creates photographs that feel both epic and intimate simultaneously.
Nick Martin specialises in wildlife silhouettes, explaining that "silhouettes of nature can be simple yet impactful". His work demonstrates how this technique can transform wildlife photography. Martin emphasises that successful silhouettes depend on significant contrast between subject and background, such as birds flying against a pale sky. He notes the importance of positioning to ensure proper alignment between subject and backdrop, sometimes adjusting his angle to capture subjects against elements like a pink sky. In one example, Martin describes placing food on a branch and setting his camera in a dip in the lawn to line up the branch with a coloured evening sky. The result was a striking silhouette of a pine marten that left his companions "very jealous". This anecdote illustrates how planning and patience are essential to capturing effective wildlife silhouettes.
Indian photographer Mitesh Patil has gained attention for his creative sunset silhouette photography. His work "transforms sunsets into spectacular illusions" with silhouettes that interact with the sun in imaginative ways—"sharing the sun" or even "playing football with it". The 22-year-old mechanical engineering student from near Mumbai explains that living near a beach allowed him to capture sunsets from a young age. While he initially photographed landscapes without people, he recognised the storytelling potential of adding human figures and objects.
Patil notes the technical challenges of his work: "I love silhouettes taken during a sunset, so that's when I take most of my photos. I only get a few minutes to get a perfect shot. If I miss the moment, I obviously have to wait until another day". He enhances his images with Adobe Lightroom, strengthening the silhouette effect.
Rich McCor, known as Paperboyo to his 367,000 Instagram followers, has developed a distinctive approach to silhouette imagery. Rather than photographing natural silhouettes formed by lighting, McCor creates images using cut-out pieces of black card placed against architectural backgrounds.
He begins with ideas for photos before the shoot and spends about three hours taking over 100 photographs to ensure he captures the perfect shot. McCor is known for transformative images, such as turning the London Eye into a bicycle and the Arc de Triomphe into a Lego figure. This innovative technique demonstrates how silhouette concepts can extend beyond traditional photography methods. By physically creating silhouettes and incorporating them into his compositions, McCor plays with perspective and transforms familiar landmarks into whimsical new creations.
Pejac: Architectural Silhouettes. The Spanish artist Pejac also works with silhouettes in a unique way, creating forced perspective photography that gives the illusion that silhouette figures are interacting with the world outside his window. One notable example is his tribute to the French high wire walker Philippe Petit, celebrating the 40th anniversary of Petit's famous walk between the Twin Towers in New York. Pejac created these images by painting silhouettes onto his window in Valencia in 2011 and then setting up shots so the painted figures merged with the backgrounds.
This technique allows Pejac to create clean images without hands or supports visible, making the silhouettes appear to interact genuinely with distant elements in the cityscape. The simplicity of these black figures against the real world creates a striking juxtaposition that challenges viewers' perceptions of scale and reality.
What unites these diverse practitioners is their recognition that sometimes less is more—that by reducing subjects to their essential outlines, new dimensions of meaning and beauty emerge. Whether capturing the bustling streets of 1950s Hong Kong, the sculptural forms of fashion models, or playful interactions with the setting sun, these photographers show that silhouettes continue to offer rich creative possibilities within the photographic medium.
The enduring appeal of silhouette photography lies in its ability to distil complex subjects to their most fundamental forms while simultaneously creating images of striking visual power. Through the deliberate omission of detail, these photographers invite viewers to engage more deeply with composition, form, and narrative, proving that what is left unseen can often be as powerful as what is revealed.
Give it a try!
Silhouette photography connects us to one of humanity's oldest visual practices—the outlining of shadows—while offering contemporary photographers endless creative possibilities. From ancient Greek pottery to smartphone photography, the power of the silhouette endures because it reduces visual information to its essence, allowing viewers to focus on shape, form, and the relationship between light and dark.
The silhouette's journey from inexpensive portrait painting alternative to contemporary artistic technique demonstrates its remarkable versatility and staying power. Whether capturing the distinctive skyline of a city at sunset, the intimate profile of a loved one, or conceptual commentary on society, silhouette photography reminds us that sometimes what we don't see is as powerful as what we do.
Resources
This fascinating video from Clifford Pickett of the iPhone Photography School provides a handy guide to getting silhouette shots in street scenes, while on location in Guanajuato City in Mexico: “Have you ever tried silhouette photography with your iPhone? Silhouettes, where your subject appears dark against a bright background, make for really eye-catching photos. There’s just one problem… The iPhone camera automatically captures as much colour and detail as possible… Which is the exact opposite of what you need for silhouettes. But there is a simple solution! Watch this video, and discover a little-known trick that will outsmart the iPhone and give you stunning silhouette photos every time!”
Alan Schaller explains how he approaches silhouette photography in his usual inimitable style. Dad jokes abound, but the man does take some incredible photographs: “Silhouetting subjects is a useful tool for many different photography styles. Here I show you a few examples of how I like to use them around the streets of London. Enjoy!”
This week’s assignments…
For this week’s daily photos, your brief is to experiment with silhouette photography in its many forms. Take inspiration from the photographers we discussed above and muck about with silhouettes by incorporating props and objects from the environment. Silhouettes, by simplifying the subject and composition, can offer you a little more control over the image, making them ideal for storytelling and adding a touch of humour to the photograph.
Let’s see silhouette photographs that are unusual, quirky and surprising enough to convince Scaramouche to get on with his bloody fandango—it’s been fifty years already ;-)
