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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Sixteen: Story-telling street photography > Technician hunting for his client, St. Malo, France, 2004
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31-AUG-2004

Technician hunting for his client, St. Malo, France, 2004

I was lurking inside of an archway, focusing my camera on a patch of sunlight in the street and waiting for someone to walk into my picture. Instead of shooting from outside the arch in, I turned things around and tried it in reverse. It worked -- a lot of folks came by, but none as intense as this fellow who seems to be a technician in search of his customer. Once again, I used my spot meter to expose for the bright light on the street itself, which made all shadows become very dark. The image becomes quite abstract as result – the late afternoon light falls on side of the technician and dramatically carves his shadow onto the paving stones. But the stage here was not a stage, nor was this man an actor. All is real. The theatricality comes from nature itself, and the story, frozen within the frame by light and by time, is all about a man in search of his work. And I was able to capture this moment in time, light, and space because of my position, deep within the shadows of the archway.

Leica Digilux 2
1/400s f/5.6 at 8.3mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis26-Sep-2004 00:56
He is flustered. He is not sure where he is, or where is going. (We've all been there.) I loved your comment about "the separate lives of a man and his shadow," too. You echo, word for word, my response to Tim May's comment on "Shadow Game" athttp://www.pbase.com/pnd1/image/33919654. (It's way down at the bottom of all the comments that have since flowed in on that picture.)
Phil
Guest 25-Sep-2004 19:44
Mmmm - yes. I like the abstraction and the graphic nature of this shot. The man's shadow and the sunlight both slash diaganolly and dramatically across the field of view, yet he himself looks rather flustered and jumbled. The separate lives of a man and his shadow? I'd say.
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