Shadow Sites II

Shadow sites are archaeological features detected from the air when low-angle sunlight highlights subtle topographical variations on the ground, revealing details that would otherwise remain invisible. In Shadow Sites II (2011), Jananne Al-Ani employs this aerial reconnaissance method, using a large-format digital camera and light aircraft to photograph archaeological ruins and other signs of human settlement across different desert landscapes located in West Asia. The film was developed as part of a body of work titled The Aesthetics of Disappearance: A Land without People, which explores ‘the disappearance of the body in the contested and highly charged landscapes of the Middle East’. In contrast to Orientalist visions of the desert as an empty, unoccupied place, in Shadow Sites II the camera seemingly burrows into the landscape to expose enduring traces of human presence.