Eidolon, Paris

On a walkabout near Les Halles, Paris, we both saw a light shadow created by the shimmering leaves of a large tree, reflecting off a wall in an alcove, and each took a couple of photographs to later compare and discuss.  My inclination was to take a horizontal view.  Jean-Michel, I later learned, took the vertical view. 

Eidolon Paris (on the vertical)By Jean-Michel Komarnicki (2010)
We never discuss our photographs until the end of a walkabout when we spend some time reviewing our images, discussing possibilities, if any.  It's always illuminating to discover the different ways one can view a subject (or object). 

These conversations can carry forward for months and into another year, depending on whether we later use an image and how we decide to use the image.

What attracted me to the shimmering light shadow - it's not really a shadow, but rather light play - was what appeared to be a hovering female spirit.  Had we stayed long enough to watch it, we could probably declare that the apparition floated across the wall, from the dark into the light!

Later, I decided to title my photograph "Eidolon", from the Greek for an apparition or an idealized figure.  

- Helen