Below is an example of a backlit image by photographer Danil Sigidin.
In this photograph, the sun provides the backlighting, making the subject's hair glow into a lighter shade of brown. The subject is properly exposed (as opposed to a silhouette), meaning the photographer took the meter reading on the subject's face or body instead of the sunlight or the land behind her. This allows the subject to provide more meaning to the photo using her expression and arms instead of through a silhouette shape. If it were a silhouette, the photo would have a completely different meaning with a more mysterious mood, and we'd lose the emotion the model's conveying.
