YOUR ASSIGNMENT
Create a series of 6–10 images focusing on the feet, steps, and long shadows of people moving through the Medina. Instead of photographing faces or upper bodies, concentrate on what happens at ground level.
Your goal is to use backlight, extended shadows, and rim light to build graphic, minimal, and storytelling compositions.
Your images should include:
• Feet and legs as the primary subject
• Long, stretched shadows cast on textured ground
• Backlit scenes where the sun creates rim light around silhouettes
• Shadows leading the viewer’s eye through the frame
• Interplay of light, shape, and movement
This assignment invites you to discover how much emotion and narrative can arise simply from footsteps and light.
ENCOURAGING CONSIDERATION
– Position yourself deliberately. Stand where the sun is behind your subjects — backlight is key. This creates elongated shadows and a glowing rim of light around legs and shoes.
– Look down, not up. Tune your awareness to the ground: the patterns of tiles, dust, cracks, or cobblestones all add texture and depth to the shadows.
– Use shadows as leading lines. Long shadows naturally guide the viewer’s eye. Let them point toward your subject, or stretch toward the edge of the frame to create visual flow.
– Wait for movement. Feet in mid-step, a flowing robe, or dust kicked up by walking people adds life and rhythm to the scene.
– Simplify compositions. Feet + shadow + ground texture is often enough. Let contrast carry the image.
– Experiment with silhouettes. Meter for the bright ground so the feet and shadows become dark shapes — this creates strong graphic impact.
– Play with perspective. Try shooting low to the ground, from directly above, or diagonally across the scene to enhance dynamism.
– Capture variety. Bare feet, sandals, leather shoes, children’s steps, fast walkers, slow walkers — each creates a different visual story.
