Dragon Boat Landing, Hue, Vietnam, 2000 by Phil Douglis

Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Nine: Composition -- putting it together > Dragon Boat Landing, Hue, Vietnam, 2000

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23-FEB-2000

Dragon Boat Landing, Hue, Vietnam, 2000

I waited a few minutes for someone to walk down these steps to board the boat at rivers edge. I shot as this man entered the frame, creating maximum tension in the spacing between him, and where he is going. The tension is enhanced by double diagonal thrusts: the steps slant down to boat, and the boat angles back into upper left hand corner, marked by Vietnam's fluttering flag. I provide a series of three focal points along the way -- the man, the boat, and the flag, which lead the eye through the entire picture.

Kodak DC4800
1/350s f/8.0 at 12.3mm hide exif

Full EXIF Info
Date/Time	23-Feb-2000 11:33:30
Make	Kodak
Model	DC4800
Flash Used	No
Focal Length	12.3 mm
Exposure Time	1/350 sec
Aperture	f/8
ISO Equivalent
Exposure Bias	-0.50
White Balance
Metering Mode	average (1)
JPEG Quality	(6)
Exposure Program	program (2)
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis		05-Mar-2006 18:28
My pictures are intended to stimulate the imagination, Mhlau. I am delighted that it made you think of those times, and all that is associated with it. It may be a calm image, but it has stirred a storm in your mind.

Guest		05-Mar-2006 11:41
Somehow, this pic brings to my mind the refugee boat people after the Vientnam war (though I am sure those boats would have been much bigger and dilapidated). I knew of many boat people's children when I was studying in Australia (and some of them were on those boats themselves, being mere toddlers braving the rough seas back in the 70's). But this pic is so calm and peaceful compared to the imagery that it conjured in me of the boat people in the rough seas. Such irony. Not sure I am making sense to you here. In any case, beautiful pic and composition! I love it.

Adalberto Tiburzi		04-Sep-2004 05:20
Not only. It reminds me of the dramatic angle and framing Eisenstein used filming the Odessa staircase in "The Battleship Potemkin", the movie.

Phil Douglis		10-Mar-2004 20:22
Thanks, as always, Tim, for contributing to the dialogue here. I am not sure I perceive the same illusion you see here, but since you bring up the subject of photography and illusion, this is a good a time as any for me to make the point that photography itself is an illusion that can play tricks on the mind. You mention "head knowledge: -- which I translate as personal context we bring to any photo. You also go on to call it your "knowledge of reality." How does your context, your knowledge of reality, match up with the image I have made? There is always a gap between the two, and this gap is partly responsible for the tricks a photograph can play on our minds. This gap is also the reason why two people can look at the same picture and see the meaning in an entirely different way. All of which makes photographic expression a very broadly defined experience. Thanks for telling me what you saw in this image -- you triggered a response that I hope will be of help to anyone who might stop to read this. Phil

Tim May		10-Mar-2004 17:48
I also feel another element of tension in this image that is almost Escher-like, the angle of the steps takes me down into the image and feel like it comes from the lower right while the line of the edge of the water moves to the upper right from the boat. As I look closely the steps and the edge of river are really almost parallel in the image, but my knowledge of reality knows that they move away from each other. This in the head knowledge vs. the actual angle you used creates a tension.

Guest		18-Oct-2003 23:57
Thanks Phil, I'm sure that it will help many people. For my own I think that I can feel if an image works but often don't search why or even don't know why, but as I like to work with feelings the image stays the most important for me. But it will be of a great help for those who can't see or feel that an image work and if they pay more attention to it they could learn a lot of your great explanations. Thanks again Phil. With kind regards. PS: you must be a great teacher

Phil Douglis		18-Oct-2003 20:23
Thanks, Dirk, for this particular comment. You have articulated the purpose behind my galleries here. I am a teacher of photographic communication. I share my own pictures and explanations on pbase as a resource for photographers. I hope that if others can better understand why my pictures work, perhaps they may be able to put some of the same ideas to work in their own photography. Phil

Guest		15-Oct-2003 10:42
Great, it really works, I can feel the tension and I loved to read your explanation, now I know why it works. I will read now the other explanations that you wrote on your images, very interesting ! Thanks a lot.

Phil Douglis		01-Sep-2003 19:54
What more can I say but thank you? The pictures you mention are all here because they express my feelings about what I saw before me. Each of them tells a story because of how I've put them together. Thanks again, Denise, for sharing your comments with me.

Denise Dee		01-Sep-2003 15:21
this row of 4 from here to russia is my favorite in the gallery. thanks, denise

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