Noir: Shadow Monkey

Continuing the noir theme, I give you Shadow Monkey.

I love noir themes, the use of darkness and light, the chiaroscuro elements present in every noir scene whether it’s photography, film or television. In particular, I love the shadow and the use of the darkness and the light to frame Monkey (Monkey is the toy’s name.). In this image, I happened to catch the sun just right, casting a long, ominous shadow behind Monkey. I think the shadow gives a sense of the waning daylight, that Monkey is moving into the night hours, where he or she (I’m not sure what Monkey’s gender is..) will likely be up to no good or involved in something threatening or nefarious.

The angle of the photo also adds an air of something ominous that is about to happen. It’s a high angle shot, placing the viewer in a position of power over the subject. This imparts a feeling that the subject is in a position of weakness, and is in imminent danger. So the angle of the shot adds to the sense something dark and ominous is about to happen. But Monkey is just a toy… Isn’t he?

Very noir.