Cuban-born artist Abelardo Morell experiments with light and shadow, as well as interior and exterior spaces, in his photographs. Morell uses one of the oldest photography devices: the camera obscura. A camera obscura is a completely dark room with only one small lens that allows in light. The light passing through that lens projects exterior visuals onto a wall or sheet. Morell photographed the contrast of interior and exterior, creating images in his home that can at first feel disorienting.

The artist has made photos using a portable tent camera and digital cameras. Morell also arranges items on photographic paper and exposes the tableau to the light, creating photograms.

The 2007 documentary Shadow of the House captures Morell’s artistic process and his return to Cuba after four decades. Morell was previously a professor of photography at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston.