Silhouette

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For other uses, see Silhouette (disambiguation).
Silhouettes of two Double-crested Cormorants
Silhouettes of two Double-crested Cormorants

A silhouette is a view of some object or scene consisting of the outline and a featureless interior, with the silhouette usually being black. The word is an eponym named after Etienne de Silhouette, a finance minister of Louis XV who in 1759 imposed such harsh economic demands upon the French people that his name became synonymous with anything done or made cheaply.

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[edit] Etymology

The family name Silhouette is a Frenchified form of a Basque surname, Zilhueta; Arnaud de Silhouette, Etienne's father, was from Biarritz in the French Basque Country; this surname, whose Standard Basque or Batua form is Zuloeta, contains the suffix -eta "abundance of" and zilho, Batua zulo, "hole" (possibly here meaning "cave").

[edit] In art

A silhouette is a form of artwork. It is most commonly a human portrait in profile, in black. They do not show any facial expression. Silhouettes are most often made by a skilled silhouette artist by looking at a subject's profile, whether in person or from a photograph, and simply cutting out their likeness freehand.[citation needed]

Two hundred years ago, long before the camera was invented, someone wishing to have an inexpensive portrait created of their loved ones would have visited a silhouette artist. Within minutes and using only a pair of scissors and a skillful eye, he would have produced a little image with a remarkable resemblance to his subject.[citation needed]

A silhouetted skyline of some trees
A silhouetted skyline of some trees
Steve Abbott's sketch of Fingask Castle
Steve Abbott's sketch of Fingask Castle

In America, silhouettes were highly popular from about 1790 to 1840. The invention of the camera signaled the end of the silhouette as a widespread form of portraiture. However, their popularity is being reborn in a new generation of people who appreciate the silhouette as a nostalgic and unique way of capturing a loved one's image.[citation needed]

A example of a color silhouette with a small depth of field
A example of a color silhouette with a small depth of field
Silhouetted soldiers against a sunset sky
Silhouetted soldiers against a sunset sky

[edit] In popular culture

A Wikipedian parodying iPod commercials
A Wikipedian parodying iPod commercials

Silhouettes have been used in many of the opening credit sequences of the James Bond films, where girls dancing in silhouette appear to be naked.

Silhouettes have also been used by recording artists in music videos. One example is the video for "Buttons" by The Pussycat Dolls, in which Nicole Scherzinger is seen showing her body as a silhouette.

Early iPod commercials portrayed silhouetted dancers wearing an iPod and earbuds.

The TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000 used the main characters in silhouette when they were shown watching the movie in the "movie theater."

The famous opening sequence of the television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents features a silhouetted profile of Alfred Hitchcock stepping into a caricatured outline of himself.

[edit] Military usage

Silhouettes of ships, planes, tanks, and other vehicles used by the military are used by soldiers and sailors for recognition purposes. See Jane's Fighting Ships, aircraft recognition.

[edit] In graphic design

To silhouette is to separate (mask) a portion of an image so that it does not show. For instance, a background.

[edit] In journalism

For interviews, some individuals choose to be videotaped in silhouette to mask their facial features and protect their anonymity. This is done when the individual may be endangered if it is known they were interviewed.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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