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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Seventeen: Memories in Metal and Stone: How monuments, sculpture, and tombs express ideas. > Joan of Arc, Gloucester, Massachusetts, 2009
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21-JUL-2009

Joan of Arc, Gloucester, Massachusetts, 2009

Sculpted by Anna Hyatt Huntington, this statue was presented to Gloucester by the French government. It stands on a traffic island in downtown Gloucester, surrounded by parked cars and utility poles. I used a 400mm telephoto focal length to zoom in on the upper portion of the statue, using a mass of trees as a natural background, and revealing the sheet of rain that was falling at the moment. Joan of Arc, her sword raised over her head, seems to be looking into the curtain of rain, as if to dare it to fight. The wet bronze adds surface texture that enhances her armor and the muscles in the head and neck of her horse.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1
1/160s f/5.6 at 200.0mm iso400 full exif

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Phil Douglis25-Jun-2020 21:06
Thank you, Paul, for letting us know this information. Coming from the historian of the American Legion Post 3 in Gloucester, Mass, your commentary adds still another layer of meaning to this photograph. The more we know about the subject of a photograph, the more valuable the image itself becomes. Thanks again.
Paul Krueger 18-Jun-2020 13:56
The statue was presented to American Legion Post No. 3. The City of Gloucester owns the pedestal on which it stands, and maintains the statue. It faces Legion Memorial building to honor the sacrifice of the US soldiers lost in WWI. It was presented to the Legion because the first commander of Post 3 was A. Piatt Andrew who established the American Field Service for the French Government prior to the US entry into WWI. The American Field Service ran ambulances for the French Army using American volunteers. (Posted by the Historian of American Legion Post No. 3.)
Phil Douglis15-May-2012 04:18
Thanks, Foley, for supplying additional information on the connection between this statue and the city of Gloucester, Mass. The more context we have, the more we can appreciate what we see before us.
Foley 14-May-2012 20:44
When ever one takes a photo of this almost duplicate statue of the one in Reims, France it evokes not only French history but the history created in World War One by the American volunteer ambulances drivers,that served France. Across from the statue rests the AFW hall,named in honor of A. Piatt Andrew, Founder of the American Field Service and resident of Gloucester. Any photograph taken on the day this statue was dedicated, will show Andrew as an attendee. He was instrumental in having the statue placed upon the traffic island you mentioned. A fine photo.
Phil Douglis13-Aug-2009 20:45
You are right. I only made this shot because of the statue's relationship to the weather. (It might have also worked on a hot muggy summer day if it was late in the day or early in the day and the sun was falling on the horses face and Joan's expression.) Of course on this day, there was no sun. Only overcast skies. So there was no picture there for me until the rains came.
Tim May13-Aug-2009 20:06
You are right the rain adds so much to the spirit of Joan - one wonders if this would seem so powerful on a hot muggy summer day. The expression on the horse is also great.
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