Shadow and light

The components of the word "photography" are Greek in origin. Photography quite literally means "to write with light."  While light serves as noun, adjective, and verb for photographers, shadows complete their sentences in bold type. The qualities of light in a picture influence our perceptions of subjects by setting mood, revealing texture, and shading detail.  These qualities appear in countless varieties of light: the shaft of sunlight in a dark scene, the gentle bath of sidelight from a big window, the cold fade of dusk, the warm glow of a tungsten bulb or a late afternoon, the eerie pulse of an electronic screen, the candy splash of a neon sign, and the contrast of a backlit silhouette.  Shadows simplify, hide, and dramatize in an endless dance with illumination.  The pictures collected here are united not by theme, but by photographers writing with light. -- Lane Turner

A vendor prepares rice to be donated to the poor on a roadside in Islamabad, Pakistan on November 1, 2012. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press)

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Amina Khatu holds her son Ahmed inside a thatched hut at a crowded IDP camp on November 25, 2012 on the outskirts of Sittwe, Myanmar. An estimated 111,000 people were displaced by sectarian violence in June and October effecting mostly the ethnic Rohingya people, one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images) #

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A model prepares backstage during Fashion Week at Milk Studios on September 9, 2012 in New York City.  (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) #

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Boatswain's Mate 3 Billy Lewis watches a helicopter land on the flight deck onboard the USS Underwood while patrolling in near Panama as part of a multi-national effort to hit illicit trafficking routes.  (Dario Lopez-Mills/Associated Press) #

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Buddhist monks study at a monastery in Mandalay, Myanmar on December 1, 2012.  (Gemunu Amarasinghe/Associated Press) #

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Syrian children look through their car window as they cross into Lebanon with their families at the border crossing in Masnaa, Lebanon on November 30, 2012. (Hassan Ammar/Associated Press) #

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Joana Escudero holds her sister Carolina as they prepare to leave the settlement of Puerta de Hierro, Spain on December 15, 2011. Fifty-four families have been living in Puerta de Hierro for over 50 years. Since 2010, the community has been subject to evictions on the grounds that the dwellings are illegal. Families whose houses have been demolished move in with relatives whose houses still remain.  (Susana Vera/Reuters) #

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Chief midwife Maria Antoneta Cabral Barbosa holds a newborn baby boy she had just delivered by flashlight at the hospital in Gabu, Guinea-Bissau on May 23, 2012. In Guinea-Bissau, one of the deadliest places in the world to give birth, a woman has a 1 in 19 chance of maternal death.  (Rebecca Blackwell/Associated Press) #

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Two Syrian rebels take sniper positions in the heavily contested neighborhood of Karmal Jabl in central Aleppo on October 18, 2012. (Javier Manzano/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A woman walks past food stands near the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City on October 4, 2012. (Ammar Awad/Reuters) #

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Palestinian firefighters try to extinguish a fire at a factory, which according to locals was hit by an Israeli air strike in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, on November 16, 2012.  (Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A police officer watches as thousands of people from France and Belgium demonstrate during an anti-austerity protest in Lille on November 14, 2012. (Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Kashmiri orphan girls study in their room at the Gulshan-E-Bannat Orphanage in Gopal Pora, Kashmir on May 17, 2012. There are over 200,000 orphans in Jammu and Kashmir. (Farooq Khan/EPA) #

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A woman walks with her shopping cart in Madrid on December 28, 2012. (Susana Vera/Reuters) #

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Shafts of sunlight hit private housing in Hong Kong on November 4, 2012. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters) #

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Lu Changshan is seen in a bus converted into a dwelling for him and his wife in Hefei, China on November 14, 2012.  Lu, 39, and his 36-year-old wife Zhang Dingmei have been living in a bus for more than three years to watch over their business selling cement and sand next to newly-constructed residential buildings.  (Stringer/Reuters) #

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Russian-speaking immigrants gather for a Russian folk music festival at the Gan HaShlosha national park near Beit Shean, Israel on May 11, 2012. (Oded Balilty/Associated Press) #

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A portrait of late leader Kim Il Sung hangs in the glow of a spot light as dusk descends upon Pyongyang, North Korea on December 14, 2012. (Ng Han Guan/Associated Press) #

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A firefighter battles a fire at a garment factory outside Dhaka, Bangladesh on November 24, 2012.  (Hasan Raza/Associated Press) #

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A man runs across a hill in front of the Sydney skyline at daybreak on September 5, 2012.  (Tim Wimborne/Reuters) #

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Pakistanis gather on Sea View Beach during sunset in Karachi on November 5, 2012. (Asif Hassan/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A fish flops on the Lake Worth Pier as fishermen return on November 9, 2012 after the pier was closed for two weeks from damage caused by Hurricane Sandy. (Lannis Waters/The Palm Beach Post/Associated Press) #

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Boats travel on the Nile River in Cairo on November 7, 2012. (Bernat Armangue/Associated Press) #

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Pedestrians pass by a sand sculpture by artist Raj Kapoor in Allahabad on December 29, 2012, after the death of a gang rape victim from the Indian capital New Delhi. (Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A boy hits a ball as people walk along the seafront at Galle face green in Colombo on October 6, 2012. (Philip Brown/Reuters) #

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The Miami Marlins' Josh Johnson pitches in a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies in Philadelphia on September 12, 2012. (Matt Slocum/Associated Press) #

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Indian laborers work at a steel factory in the outskirts of Agartala on November 1, 2012. (AFP/Getty Images) #

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Bystanders enjoy the holiday window unveiling at Bloomingdale's in New York on November 13, 2012.  (Chip East/Reuters) #

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A girl turning 15 arrives in a limousine for a group debutante ball organized by the Peacemaker Police Unit program in the Mangueira favela in Rio de Janeiro on November 8, 2012. (Silvia Izquierdo/Associated Press) #

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A girl watches a performance to mark the upcoming New Year's holiday in Moscow on December 28, 2012. (Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP/Getty Images) #

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People walk in an alley illuminated by colorful lights ahead of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, in Mumbai on November 12, 2012. (Danish Siddiqui/Reuters) #

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The last remains of sunlight fall on the summit of Cerro Stanhardt in Patagonia, Argentina as Stephan Siegrist completes his climb in August, 2012. (Thomas Senf/Photopress for Mammut/Associated Press) #

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People walk through the snow-covered landscape near the Swiss village of Hirzel south of Zurich on October 31, 2012. (Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters) #

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Swans swim at the Malaren Lake in central Stockholm on December 3, 2012. (Johan Nilsson/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A woman holds a dog as she stands beneath autumnal leaves in Beijing on October 31, 2012. (Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A devotee breaks her fast by drinking water after offering prayers to the rising sun during the Chhat festival in Kathmandu, Nepal on November 20, 2012. Chhat is a four-day festival that honors the sun god. (Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)#

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A Buddhist monk of the Drukpa Tibetan Buddhist lineage yawns as he sits with others during a break at annual festival of sacred dances at the Hemis monastery near Leh, Ladakh, India. (Kevin Frayer/Associated Press)#

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A vendor waits for customers in Bhaktapur, Nepal on November 1, 2012. Bhaktapur, or town of devotees, is an ancient Newar community town listed as a World Heritage site. (Niranjan Shrestha/Associated Press)#

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A Taoist hermit priest sits on her bed during her daily meditation, which lasts seven to eight hours, in Mount Zhongnan, China on November 4, 2012. (Rooney Chen/Reuters)#

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A Hindu holy man, or sadhu, walks along his ashram, a place of retreat, at the premises of the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal on November 20, 2012. (Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)#

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Displaced Congolese take shelter in a church in the town of Mugunga, Democratic Republic of the Congo on November 23, 2012. Fighting between M23 rebels and government troops in Sake caused tens of thousands to flee the area. (Phil Moore/AFP/Getty Images)#

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Young ballerinas pose as they prepare to go on stage in Alexandra Township, South Africa on November 17, 2012. (Denis Farrell/Associated Press)#