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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Forty-Three: When doors, arches and gates express ideas > Piecemeal, Sousse, Tunisia, 2008
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08-NOV-2008

Piecemeal, Sousse, Tunisia, 2008

This door provides an insight into the Tunisian economy – it is a study in piecemeal repair. I made this image within the 800-year-old medina of Sousse, where things are generally old and sometimes very old. I have no idea how long this door has served its owners, but it is obvious that when this door breaks it is not replaced, but seemingly reinforced at random. It becomes an incongruous symbol of a world where time stands still, money is hard to come by, and craftsmanship is not an issue. Incongruity comes to us here not just through the skills of the photographer, but rather through the bizarre nature of the subject itself. All we have to do is notice it, and expression takes place.

Leica V-Lux 1
1/200s f/5.6 at 10.0mm iso100 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time08-Nov-2008 09:17:52
MakeLeica
ModelV-LUX 1
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length10 mm
Exposure Time1/200 sec
Aperturef/5.6
ISO Equivalent100
Exposure Bias-0.33
White Balance
Metering Modemulti spot (3)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Programprogram (2)
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis28-Nov-2008 21:47
Thanks, Eckhart -- it does work, and that is why it is still there. I well remember my own visit to Cairo in the 1980s -- the city seemed to be coming apart at the seams. It had been doing that, I guess, for 4,000 years, which puts things into perspective. Sousse is not as old, but it does go back to the Phoenicians.
Eckhart Derschmidt28-Nov-2008 19:30
Well, somehow it works, doesn't it?
Very well observed. I am just in Cairo, my first visit to an African country, It is the absolutely same here. There are so many incredibly old cars in terrible technical condition, but somehow, they still run, Most things will rather be repaired than replaced.
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