Shadow

Before the invention of photography, camere obscura, camera lucida and physionotrace, which is a silhouette drawing traced from a shadow on a wall, were used for copying images. Nowdays, Kara Walker is known for silhouetted figures dealing with the issues of race, gender and sexuality.
One thousand years before the Song Dynasty (AD 960-1279) shadow shows appeared in China. By the 18th century, shadow shows were played in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, India, Egypt, Iran, Turkey and Western Europe with a distinct style. Shadow theater was popular in France in the 1770s. The silhouette figures were called "Chinese Shadows"(Ombres Chinoises) but the images were black silhouettes not like the colored shadows of Chinese shadow plays.
In early the 20th century, the German silhouette animator Lotte Reiniger, who was fascinated with the Chinese art of silhouette puppetry, made films using cut-out silhouettes. Here is her film "The Adventures of Prince Achmed-Harem Scene."

Whether the shadow shows were performed for religious education or entertainment,
I think that people are still fascinated by it because they are searching for their inner world, behind the screen and behind the layers of everyday reality.