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 Double-crested Cormorant ( Phalacrocorax auritus) is a member of the Cormorant family of Seabirds It occurs along inland waterways as well as in 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. Étienne de Silhouette ( July 8, 1709 - 1767 was a French Controller-General of Finances under Louis XV. Louis XV (15 February 1710 &ndash 10 May 1774 ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774

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"). Basque ( native name: euskara) is the Language spoken by the Basque people who inhabit the Pyrenees in North-Central Spain Biarritz ( French: Biarritz, bjaˈʀits Gascon Occitan: Biàrritz; Basque: Biarritz or Miarritze is a town The French Basque Country or Northern Basque Country (Pays basque français Iparralde constitutes the North-Eastern part of the Basque Country and the Western Euskara batua (English "Unified Basque language" is a standardised version of the Basque language, which nowadays is the most widely and

In art

A silhouette is a form of artwork. The visual arts are art forms that focus on the creation of works which are primarily Visual in nature such as Painting, Photography It is most commonly a human portrait in profile, in black. A portrait is a painting, photograph, Sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person in which the face and its expression is predominant 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.

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. Scissors are hand operated cutting instruments consisting of a pair of Metal Blades connected in such a way that the blades meet and cut materials placed

A silhouetted skyline of some trees

Steve Abbott's sketch of Fingask Castle

In America, silhouettes were highly popular from about 1790 to 1840. Fingask Castle is a country house in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. 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.

A example of a color silhouette with a small depth of field

Silhouetted soldiers against a sunset sky

In popular culture

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. ***************************************************************************************** * * James Bond 007 is a Fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve Novels and two Short story

Silhouettes have also been used by recording artists in music videos. A music video is a Short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music most commonly a Song with lyrics One example is the video for "Buttons" by The Pussycat Dolls, in which Nicole Scherzinger is seen showing her body as a silhouette. Pussycat Dolls is an American pop Girl group, and dance ensemble founded by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995 Nicole Prescovia Elikolani Valiente Scherzinger (also known as Nicole Kea, born June 29, 1978) is an American pop singer songwriter

Early iPod commercials portrayed silhouetted dancers wearing an iPod and earbuds. iPod is a popular brand of Portable media players designed and marketed by Apple Inc

The TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000 used the main characters in silhouette when they were shown watching the movie in the "movie theater. Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American Cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced "

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. Alfred Hitchcock Presents is an Anthology Television series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE (13 A caricature is either a Portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness or in literature a description

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. Jane's Fighting Ships is an annual reference Book (also published online on CD and Microfiche) of information on all the world's Warships Aircraft recognition is a visual skill taught to military personal and civilian auxiliaries since the introduction of Military aircraft in World War I.

In graphic design

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

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.

See also

• Contre-jour
• Mudflap girl
• Kara Walker

External links

• www.papercutsbyjoe.com American Silhouette-style papercutter Joseph Bagley
• Silhouette Artists List of silhouette artists, both living and historical. Contre-jour, French for 'against Daylight ' refers to Photographs taken when the Camera is pointing directly toward the source of light The mudflap girl is a Silhouette of a buxom human female sitting leaning back on her hands with her hair being blown in the wind Kara Walker (born November 26, 1969) is a contemporary African American artist who explores race, Gender, sexuality
• GAP Guild of American Papercutters

• Costume Silhouettes Fashion silhouettes from the 1920s and 1930s.
• Silhouette Gallery A collection of silhouette style photographs.
• Silhouettes. Paintings & Drawings. Victoria and Albert Museum. The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design housing a permanent collection Retrieved on 2007-08-21. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1192 - Minamoto Yoritomo becomes Seii Tai Shōgun and the De facto ruler of Japan.
• "Silhouette," poem by Jared Carter. Jared Carter is a contemporary American poet with particular interests in traditional lyric and narrative poetry and in the geographic and cultural area of the
• Silhouette Musical Theatre - A musical theatre company
• Silhouette Vocal Quartet - A female vocal quartet
• Silhouette Photography