Résumé

This investigation briefly analyzes the shadow as an origin of analog photography, giving examples of shadows that symbolically came to replace the bodies that ever projected them. We also analyze the shadow as a phenomenon of life, since it is an intangible trace that accompanies the body that projects it and, consequently, represents its presence in the world. Moreover, we study the relationship of the shadow with the soul in the culture of primitive peoples. Also, in the short story The Shadow, by Hans Christian Andersen, we compare the distorted and enlarged silhouette that projects the protagonist with the shadow archetype. Finally, we compare this archetype with the Lavater’s skiagraphias.