A Life in Shadows

Shadow Theatre in Southeast Asia

Description

One of the oldest story telling traditions, shadow theatre combines puppetry with music, philosophy, history, story telling, fashion, ritual, religion, and education.Through documentary photography, A Life in Shadows explores the nuance, sophistication and value of shadow theatre and its creators.

Constantine Korsovitis has been documenting the spirit and multiplicity of shadow theatre since 1999 in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia, the common thread being the use of the Hindu epics of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata as the source stories.

The book explores all aspects of shadow theatre – performance, portraiture, music, craftsmanship, fashion and story telling – as well as including photographs of the most famous and influential masters of the region. Floating between worlds, these men and women are writing and rewriting the world with light and shadows – creating magic to hypnotic music and recounting the eternal struggle between good and evil.