your space than you think.” The film showcases some of
Morell’s extensive work and takes the viewer into his pri-
vate life, uncovering his fascination with the magic of the
ordinary.
Shadow of the House is an intimate portrait of photogra-
pher Abelardo Morell. I followed Abe for over seven
years, uncovering the mystery and method of his artistic
process, the role of family in his life and the impact of his
background as a Cuban refugee. The narrative skips
across time and space to reveal Morell’s journey from his
early childhood escape from Castro’s regime to his status
as a world-renowned photographer.
I first learned about Abe in 1991 when I stumbled into one
of his lectures. I remember he said something like, “It is
amazing how a good picture can make me want to get
up in the morning.” That resonated for me.
I started making Shadow of the House in the summer of
1999. I went to paris with Abe, his wife, Lisa McElaney,
and their son, Brady, planning to produce a short film
about Abe’s process of making his camera obscura pho-
tographs which create an ambiguous marriage between
the interior environment and the outside world. Abe had
made oceans swim on an attic ceiling and 42nd street
invade a hotel bedroom. In paris he wanted to make a
camera obscura photograph with the Eiffel tower.
To create these seeming optical illusions, Abe finds a
room with a compelling view and covers the windows
with black plastic. He cuts a small hole in the plastic and
the view from outside spills onto the wall opposite the win-
dow upside down and inverted. Suddenly a busy street
is on the wall of a conference room. To capture the
scene, Abe leaves his camera in the room and exposes
the negative over the course of the day.
I imagined scouting endless numbers of rooms to find the
perfect locale in paris. I wondered if he would find a
place — maybe I didn’t even want him to find the room
because a failed search could be an interesting
metaphor for the artist’s struggle to keep moving forward.
But just the opposite happened. In ten days Abe made
6 or 7 images. I felt as though all of us had worked non-
stop and I returned home exhausted. But during this trip
I developed a deeper understanding of Abe’s drive and
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