The History of Hand Shadows

How do you tell the story of an artform like shadowgraphy (or hand shadows) which, by its very nature, has few artefacts and a fairly insubstantial documentation in the pre-digital age?

In this video Drew Colby explores the earliest records of hand shadows and hand shadow performance practice starting from the Stone Age and weaving a magical narrative right up to our century.

Please leave a comment with your theories and facts about hand shadows below.

Artist credits:

Moronobu Hishikawa (1618 – 1694) Japan
Ryūryūkyo Shinsai (1799? - 1823?) Japan
Utagawa Hiroshige (1797 - 1858) Japan
Norman Rockwell (1894 – 1978) USA

Performers:

Félicien Trewey (1848 – 1920) France
Edward Victor (1887 – 1964) England
Drew Colby (1974 - ) England

The poem at the end of the video is from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam,
translated from the original language (Persian/Farsi) by Edward FitzGerald.

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