Shadow Hunter/ SMASh Contest Round #400 | The Broom’s Midnight Shadow

This type of broom is very common in Odisha, particularly in the western part. I checked online; this type of broom is available on Amazon too, but the cost is high, around 547 INR. I have a feeling for those who come to my village to sell their produce, including this intricately woven utility tool, they hardly charge 50 INR for this.

I think they(tribals) should get a better price for this. Unfortunately for the tribals, it's not driven by the rate analysis and/or inflation; rather, it is perception-based pricing, and the tribals also seem to be selling their produce just to earn some money for their survival.

Anyway, my subject today is to cast a beautiful shadow out of this hand-made broom at night. I have come home and will stay here for a week, so I am maximizing it to generate some good content. Shadow hunting has always been my comfort niche.

I have taken the shadow shots on the first floor and used the wall where the object leaves its imprint and using the street light as the source. The height of the street light and its face is such that it creates a horizontal beam at the first floor. And for me to capture the shadow with such a combination is near perfect.

Rural life here is stitched to Nature and natural things. Dawn begins with the broom’s whisper across the courtyard, pushing yesterday’s footprints into neat piles. By dusk, the same broom returns to the corner, and well placed with the day’s fatigue, and by Night, someone like me hunts shadows to capture the intricate beauty of it; precisely the artistic display. It is not a tool; it is a quiet companion, keeper of order in a world that refuses straight lines.

The shadow at night feels truer because it mocks the illusion of permanence; only the play of light and dark endures, a silent theater where nothing is solid and everything is sacred, and anything & everything is a ritual in rural life, particularly when it is neatly integrated with nature and natural things.

To be continued.........

Thank you.
🙏🙏🙏

This is my entry to Shadow Hunter SMASh Contest Round 400 by @melinda010100

Thank you.

Original Photography using my Smartphone