A photography technique that frequently catches my eye is the use of silhouette - placing a subject directly between a primary light source and the camera. The effect can be painterly or haunting or evocative. It can break a subject down to basic ideas conveyed only by line and shape, where an individual might appear iconic. Collected here are a handful of recent photographs from around the world, where we can only see the outlines of the subject, our minds (and the captions) are left to fill in any details in the darkness.
1. A child plays with water in a fountain at a park in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, July 20, 2010. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
2. An Afghan horseman competes for the goat carcass during a game of buzkashi near the Band-i-Amir lakes outside the central Afghan province of Bamiyan on July 30, 2010, during a local annual festival aimed at promoting tourism in the central highlands. (SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images)
3. South African kids play soccer in open field as sun sets in Soweto, South Africa, Wednesday, June 2, 2010. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
4. The setting sun shines through a concert goer's umbrella on Sunday night July 11, 2010 at the Felice Brothers concert at Longs Park in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Intelligencer Journal, Marty Heisey)
5. The sun is eclipsed by the moon seen from Easter Island, 3,700 km off the Chilean coast in the Pacific Ocean, on July 11, 2010. (MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP/Getty Images)
6. A man runs as the sun sets in the Mediterranean sea, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 21, 2010. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
7. The skull replica of dinosaur "Lessemsaurus sauropoides" is assembled by Argentina's Museum of Natural Science curator Renzo Dario Arce for "The Dawn of the Dinosaurs" exhibition in Tokyo on July 2, 2010. (TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty Images)
8. Palestinian children play in a public park at sunset, in the West Bank refugee camp of Jalazoun, near Ramallah, Saturday, July 24, 2010. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
9. Kevin Wilbur, of Tucson Balloon Rides supervises the filling of his hot air balloon before a sunrise flight Easter morning Sunday, April 4, 2010 in Tucson. Arizona. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
10. Sheila Nichols, 55, stands in room at the Charles Cobb Apartments in Los Angeles, Monday, July 19, 2010. After two decades living on the streets of Skid Row, Nichols was dying. Her body had wasted away to 61 pounds, ravaged by a heavy-duty crack cocaine addiction, hepatitis, HIV, and late-stage syphilis. Nichols was rescued by Project 50, a pilot program to get the 50 people most likely to die if they remained homeless into housing, medical care and social services. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
11. People watch the sunset from Havana's seafront boulevard "El Malecon" July 30, 2010. (REUTERS/Desmond Boylan)
12. An Iraqi Emergency Response Brigade (ERB) member is silhouetted in the moonlight as he watches over the perimeter while his unit searches the neighborhood for a suspected insurgent responsible for planting IEDs, on May 27, 2010 on the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq. (Warrick Page/Getty Images)
13. Philippine Iguanas considered endangered species are seen inside a container at the city veterinary office before their handover to proper authorities Saturday, June 19, 2010 in suburban Pasay City, south of Manila, Philippines. A variety of endangered species were rescued by authorities from pet shops in the city. (AP Photo/Pat Roque)
14. A South African man swings his hair during the sunset over Pretoria on June 30, 2010. (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)
15. A jet flies in front of the full moon in St. Petersburg, Russia on April 29, 2010. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)
16. Volunteers release flamingo chicks at the Fuente de Piedra natural reserve, near Malaga, in southern Spain August 7, 2010. Around 600 flamingos are ringed and measured before being placed in the lagoon, one of the largest colonies of flamingos in Europe, according to authorities of the natural reserve. (REUTERS/Jon Nazca)
17. US President Barack Obama speaks at a Democratic National Committee finance event at the Chicago Cultural Center in Chicago, Illinois, on August 5, 2010. (JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)
18. Elephants are pictured at sunset in Addo Elephant Game Reserve near Port Elizabeth in South Africa on July 1, 2010. (CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images)
19. Palestinian youths throw stones at Israeli border police vehicles during clashes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan July 27, 2010. (REUTERS/Ammar Awad)
20. Abby Johnston of the USA dives during training at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center during Day 2 of the AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix on May 7, 2010 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Al Bello/Getty Images)
21. An Indian paramilitary official stands guard at the newly inaugurated Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on July 27, 2010 for the upcoming 2010 Commonwealth Games. The XIX Commonwealth Games 2010 are scheduled to be held between October 3-14 in the Indian capital. (MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP/Getty Images)
22. Australian freestyle motocross rider Robbie Maddison jumps during an training session in the Sahara desert near the Giza pyramids as the sun sets in Cairo May 11, 2010 in preparation of the second stage of the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour. (REUTERS/Joerg Mitter, Global-Newsroom)
23. A police officer walks on railway tracks as he surveys the scene of a crash near the southern Israeli town of Kiryat Gat August 5, 2010. A train crashed with a minibus in southern Israel on Thursday, killing at least seven people, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said. (REUTERS/Amir Cohen)
24. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, presidential candidate of the conservative Law and Justice party and twin brother of the late President Lech Kaczynski killed in a plane crash, at his party's headquarters in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, July 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
25. Children play in a lake during sunset, outside Minsk, on August 6, 2010 as temperatures in Minsk were hovering around 36 degrees Celsius, (97 Fahrenheit). (ALEXEY GROMOV/AFP/Getty Images)
26. A man stands in the surf to cast his line into deeper waters, as he fishes in the waters of the Arabian Sea off the coast of Mumbai, India, Thursday, Aug. 5, 2010. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
27. A labourer works at a workshop of an iron and steel factory in Jiayuguan, Gansu province, China on July 28, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer)
28. Residents and vehicles move along the main road through Nowshera after flood waters receded in Pakistan's northwest Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province August 1, 2010. (REUTERS/Adrees Latif)
29. Birds sit on a tree at the sunset in Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, June 23, 2010. (AP Photo/Guillermo Arias)
30. An elderly Palestinian man reads the Koran inside a mosque in the West Bank village of Yazur after the Israeli army warned the Palestinian community in the village that authorities are planning to destroyed their houses on August 6, 2010. (SAIF DAHLAH/AFP/Getty Images)
31. Experimental aircraft "Solar Impulse" with pilot Andre Borschberg onboard flies at sunrise above Payerne's Swiss airbase on July 8, 2010 during the first attempt to fly around the clock fuelled by nothing but the energy of the sun. (FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images)
32. A Canadian Mountie is silhouetted at the Air India monument in Toronto June 23, 2010. (REUTERS/Mark Blinch)
33. A pelican dives aiming for a catch as the sun set over the ocean in St. John's, Antigua on May 23, 2010. (JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)
34. A man, dressed as a devil, dances during a procession honoring the capital's patron St. Dominic of Guzman in Managua, Nicaragua on Sunday Aug. 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
35. Men are silhouetted in a field of burning vehicles, which were carrying supplies to foreign forces in Afghanistan, after the convoy was set ablaze in Sangjani, Pakistan on June 9, 2010. Suspected militants attacked and set fire to a convoy of about 50 tankers and containers, killing at least six, local media reported police saying. (REUTERS/Adrees Latif)
36. Silhouette of a glass frog on a leaf, close-up in Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica. (Kevin Schafer/Getty Images)
37. A child plays in a fountain at a park in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, July 20, 2010. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
1. A child plays with water in a fountain at a park in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, July 20, 2010. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
2. An Afghan horseman competes for the goat carcass during a game of buzkashi near the Band-i-Amir lakes outside the central Afghan province of Bamiyan on July 30, 2010, during a local annual festival aimed at promoting tourism in the central highlands. (SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images)
3. South African kids play soccer in open field as sun sets in Soweto, South Africa, Wednesday, June 2, 2010. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
4. The setting sun shines through a concert goer's umbrella on Sunday night July 11, 2010 at the Felice Brothers concert at Longs Park in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Intelligencer Journal, Marty Heisey)
5. The sun is eclipsed by the moon seen from Easter Island, 3,700 km off the Chilean coast in the Pacific Ocean, on July 11, 2010. (MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP/Getty Images)
6. A man runs as the sun sets in the Mediterranean sea, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 21, 2010. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
7. The skull replica of dinosaur "Lessemsaurus sauropoides" is assembled by Argentina's Museum of Natural Science curator Renzo Dario Arce for "The Dawn of the Dinosaurs" exhibition in Tokyo on July 2, 2010. (TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty Images)
8. Palestinian children play in a public park at sunset, in the West Bank refugee camp of Jalazoun, near Ramallah, Saturday, July 24, 2010. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
9. Kevin Wilbur, of Tucson Balloon Rides supervises the filling of his hot air balloon before a sunrise flight Easter morning Sunday, April 4, 2010 in Tucson. Arizona. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
10. Sheila Nichols, 55, stands in room at the Charles Cobb Apartments in Los Angeles, Monday, July 19, 2010. After two decades living on the streets of Skid Row, Nichols was dying. Her body had wasted away to 61 pounds, ravaged by a heavy-duty crack cocaine addiction, hepatitis, HIV, and late-stage syphilis. Nichols was rescued by Project 50, a pilot program to get the 50 people most likely to die if they remained homeless into housing, medical care and social services. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
11. People watch the sunset from Havana's seafront boulevard "El Malecon" July 30, 2010. (REUTERS/Desmond Boylan)
12. An Iraqi Emergency Response Brigade (ERB) member is silhouetted in the moonlight as he watches over the perimeter while his unit searches the neighborhood for a suspected insurgent responsible for planting IEDs, on May 27, 2010 on the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq. (Warrick Page/Getty Images)
13. Philippine Iguanas considered endangered species are seen inside a container at the city veterinary office before their handover to proper authorities Saturday, June 19, 2010 in suburban Pasay City, south of Manila, Philippines. A variety of endangered species were rescued by authorities from pet shops in the city. (AP Photo/Pat Roque)
14. A South African man swings his hair during the sunset over Pretoria on June 30, 2010. (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)
15. A jet flies in front of the full moon in St. Petersburg, Russia on April 29, 2010. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)
16. Volunteers release flamingo chicks at the Fuente de Piedra natural reserve, near Malaga, in southern Spain August 7, 2010. Around 600 flamingos are ringed and measured before being placed in the lagoon, one of the largest colonies of flamingos in Europe, according to authorities of the natural reserve. (REUTERS/Jon Nazca)
17. US President Barack Obama speaks at a Democratic National Committee finance event at the Chicago Cultural Center in Chicago, Illinois, on August 5, 2010. (JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)
18. Elephants are pictured at sunset in Addo Elephant Game Reserve near Port Elizabeth in South Africa on July 1, 2010. (CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images)
19. Palestinian youths throw stones at Israeli border police vehicles during clashes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan July 27, 2010. (REUTERS/Ammar Awad)
20. Abby Johnston of the USA dives during training at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center during Day 2 of the AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix on May 7, 2010 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Al Bello/Getty Images)
21. An Indian paramilitary official stands guard at the newly inaugurated Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on July 27, 2010 for the upcoming 2010 Commonwealth Games. The XIX Commonwealth Games 2010 are scheduled to be held between October 3-14 in the Indian capital. (MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP/Getty Images)
22. Australian freestyle motocross rider Robbie Maddison jumps during an training session in the Sahara desert near the Giza pyramids as the sun sets in Cairo May 11, 2010 in preparation of the second stage of the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour. (REUTERS/Joerg Mitter, Global-Newsroom)
23. A police officer walks on railway tracks as he surveys the scene of a crash near the southern Israeli town of Kiryat Gat August 5, 2010. A train crashed with a minibus in southern Israel on Thursday, killing at least seven people, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said. (REUTERS/Amir Cohen)
24. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, presidential candidate of the conservative Law and Justice party and twin brother of the late President Lech Kaczynski killed in a plane crash, at his party's headquarters in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, July 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
25. Children play in a lake during sunset, outside Minsk, on August 6, 2010 as temperatures in Minsk were hovering around 36 degrees Celsius, (97 Fahrenheit). (ALEXEY GROMOV/AFP/Getty Images)
26. A man stands in the surf to cast his line into deeper waters, as he fishes in the waters of the Arabian Sea off the coast of Mumbai, India, Thursday, Aug. 5, 2010. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
27. A labourer works at a workshop of an iron and steel factory in Jiayuguan, Gansu province, China on July 28, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer)
28. Residents and vehicles move along the main road through Nowshera after flood waters receded in Pakistan's northwest Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province August 1, 2010. (REUTERS/Adrees Latif)
29. Birds sit on a tree at the sunset in Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, June 23, 2010. (AP Photo/Guillermo Arias)
30. An elderly Palestinian man reads the Koran inside a mosque in the West Bank village of Yazur after the Israeli army warned the Palestinian community in the village that authorities are planning to destroyed their houses on August 6, 2010. (SAIF DAHLAH/AFP/Getty Images)
31. Experimental aircraft "Solar Impulse" with pilot Andre Borschberg onboard flies at sunrise above Payerne's Swiss airbase on July 8, 2010 during the first attempt to fly around the clock fuelled by nothing but the energy of the sun. (FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images)
32. A Canadian Mountie is silhouetted at the Air India monument in Toronto June 23, 2010. (REUTERS/Mark Blinch)
33. A pelican dives aiming for a catch as the sun set over the ocean in St. John's, Antigua on May 23, 2010. (JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)
34. A man, dressed as a devil, dances during a procession honoring the capital's patron St. Dominic of Guzman in Managua, Nicaragua on Sunday Aug. 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
35. Men are silhouetted in a field of burning vehicles, which were carrying supplies to foreign forces in Afghanistan, after the convoy was set ablaze in Sangjani, Pakistan on June 9, 2010. Suspected militants attacked and set fire to a convoy of about 50 tankers and containers, killing at least six, local media reported police saying. (REUTERS/Adrees Latif)
36. Silhouette of a glass frog on a leaf, close-up in Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica. (Kevin Schafer/Getty Images)
37. A child plays in a fountain at a park in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, July 20, 2010. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
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