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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Seventy One: Making the most of a rainy day > Heading west, New York City, New York, 2009
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29-JUL-2009

Heading west, New York City, New York, 2009

I made this photograph of the cyclist seen in the previous image only thirty seconds later. Between these two pictures, the light had changed and he had raced past me, an abstracted figure heading west towards Park Avenue over shimmering red reflections from the adjoining taillights and the overhead traffic signal. The abstraction removes detail, and puts the viewer on the cycle as well.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1
1/125s f/5.6 at 200.0mm iso400 full exif

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Phil Douglis04-Aug-2009 23:38
Thanks, Tim, for offering this interpretation. I did not think of it at the time, but I can certainly see how his act of pedaling against all of the red in this image speaks of defiance. Once again, you show us how symbolism works in photography. Red is a warning symbol -- there is even a real "red light" in this image, and he seems to pedaling through its reflection. Yet we all know in our logical minds that he must surely stop when he reaches the crest of Murray Hill at Park Avenue, or else one of those taxis will have him and bicycle for lunch.
Tim May04-Aug-2009 19:19
All the red in the image speaks of stopping, yet the cyclist moves on - defying context.
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