The reflection and the shadow. /Entry for the Reflection Hunters Contest #215/

10 days ago (Edited)

Good morning to my favorite bees.

This is the first time I will try to participate in the Reflection Contest.

In this photograph, I want to show the juxtaposition between matter projecting a shadow and the reflection bouncing light particles back at our retinas.

On the one hand, we have matter, that tangible entity that blocks the flow of photographs and, in doing so, creates a shadow. Basic science: light travels in a straight line until it collides with an object, which absorbs or scatters some of its particles, leaving an area of lower luminous intensity behind it. This is nature in action, obeying the law of rectilinearity, as if matter were saying in an authoritarian tone: "I'm in charge here, photons!"

It makes us wonder if our soul lies somewhere between these two concepts or is something ethereal.

In contrast, reflection is the process in which photons encounter a surface and, instead of being absorbed, bounce off in different directions, some of which converge in our eyes. This phenomenon, governed by the laws of reflection and described by Fresnel's equations, reminds us that light is cunning: it knows how to adapt and always find its way to our retinas, like that friend who bounces joy in any situation.

The juxtaposition of shadow and reflection is not only a delight for the eye, but also a delight for the scientific and philosophical mind. The shadow, that "absence of light," symbolizes the concrete and measurable, while the reflection, by returning luminous information, is the visible manifestation of energy in transit. And amidst these phenomena, the question arises: where is the soul located? From an empirical perspective, physics has not identified any particle or field that represents the “vital essence,” but this contrast between light and dark inspires the idea that perhaps the immaterial lies subtly between tangible evidence and the subjective interpretation of our perceptions.