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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty Three: Stirring emotions through atmosphere and mood. > Grand Palace, Bangkok, Thailand, 2005
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15-JAN-2005

Grand Palace, Bangkok, Thailand, 2005

We had only one day in Bangkok before flying north to the Golden Triangle and then on into Laos and Burma. Our brief glimpse of Bangkok’s most famous attraction, its Grand Palace, came at night, from a moving tea barge floating up the Chao Phraya River. Because the engines of the barge created tremendous vibration, there was no way to make a sharp image of anything at night. My only alternative was to deliberately create an unsharp image to express some aspect of this glorious 200-year-old palace. Using a hand held telephoto lens at a quarter of a second from a vibrating platform guaranteed plenty of camera shake. In this image, the grand palace appears to explode skyward before our very eyes.

The camera’s movement, along with the diagonal composition, creates an energetic mood that suggests excitement and heavenly aspirations. The great spire, throbbing with energy and aimed at the corner of the frame, appears to be moving skyward; an appropriate symbol for what is essentially a vast complex of spiritually oriented structures.

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Phil Douglis21-Jun-2007 21:16
Thank you, Ceci, for relating this image to the mysteries of the Thai. It is not out of focus, by the way -- the image is sharp. But it is blurred due to deliberate camera movement, which provides the energy, abstraction, and meaning here.
Guest 21-Jun-2007 18:07
I love this shot, so full of illumination and golden matter. I like the fact that it's tilted, and that it's out of focus -- it adds to the mystery of the Thai people, and perfectly expresses all that we don't really know about them.
Phil Douglis18-May-2006 19:49
I value your comment for its relevance, Jenene. You lived there, you know the culture, and you felt its vibrancy first hand. Thank you for seeing my solution to a technical problem as an "essence" kind of shot. Your depiction of Thai values helps us all to see this image in a new light. Thank you for contributing to this discussion.
JSWaters18-May-2006 07:20
Phil, you have captured for me here not only the spiritual nature of the Thai people, cut their essence as well. What we see in the postcards is the beautiful imagery of Thailand and its people. Those of us who have spent time with the lovely people of Thailand, know they are traditional, observant. spiritual, and above all, as in your image, vibrant. They are adaptive and accomodating, yet like most Asians, fiercely protective of their covenant with the spiritual world. Compromise comes into play only when trying to fit into the outside world of commerce.
Phil Douglis17-Apr-2006 06:57
Photography, Jeremy, often boils down to making, as they say, lemonade out of lemons. Digital photography makes it much easier because we can see what we are doing as we do it, and one image always leads us to another and another.
Jeremy01-Apr-2006 14:54
I am learning something from you here. It's marvellous how you created a stunning image from an almost impossible situation. I wouldn't know how to make such an inspiring image even under conditions that are perfect. The idea to take the photo from a vibrating platform to generate camera shake, the angle of the shot and compostion, the choice of subject, are simply brilliant. Thanks for the lesson.
Phil Douglis07-Jul-2005 06:00
Glad you can relate to what I've done here, Peter. I did not tilt the camera, however, nor did I shake it. In the original image, the spire was upright -- quite blurred, but quite vertical. The shake was caused by the vibration of the rice boat I was shooting from. When I saw the quivering image, I knew what I would do with it later in Photoshop. I reoriented the shot as a diagonal, launching the temple into the sky. You see the building as toppling over backwards, perhaps as a symbolic decline or fall. I see it aimed squarely at the heavens, because it is, above all, a religious edifice. I leave the interpretation up to my viewers -- they will see whatever they want to see, and I can do nothing about that. As I've often said, I try to make images as catalysts for the imagination. Once I make them and post them, they will lead lives of their own in the minds of each viewer. Thank you for sharing your own feelings with me, Peter, and for learning from the experience.
Guest 07-Jul-2005 01:36
Phil, I have seen many postcards, and postcard like images of this place, why would I want to see another one? Thank you Phil for sparing me this pleasure. Once again you have used your judgment to create a superb image, full of energy and feelings, and as proven by many others who have already contributed to the discussion, an image that makes us think.

Few simple tricks put together (tilt and shake; sometimes overused because blurred and tilted is supposed to make images artsy fartsy - if poeople can't understand or identify, it has to be art lol) in a very efficient manner, make for an explosive combination , for me the shake symbolizes energy, and the tower tilting backwards represents falling, falling of what? culture, civilization, individual?

Regards
Peter
Phil Douglis20-May-2005 00:45
I am delighted that you are able to interpret this image so positively, Ana. I respected Zandra's nightmarish vision, of course, and I am thrilled with your own view of color as the key to its expressiveness. I agree with you -- in black and white, this would be like a news photo of an earthquake in progress. I guess the ultimate accolade you give it is that it reminds you of Ana without her glasses -- which proves to me that this image, to Ana at least, is a celebratory event -- a staid religious structure suddenly behaving like a rebellious child. You are right, Ana -- this image is not really about technique at all. It is about energy unleashed.
Ana Carloto O'Shea19-May-2005 22:38
And why should we banish the blur from our photos?? Why not use it???
Here the blur works for us, waking up our senses, making us look at the fiery colours and wonder about what is really going on... This looks like a rocket launching site photo, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, & take off!!!!! ... "Huston we don't have any problems here".
The fiery vibrant colours are always captivating for me and no matter how hard I look at this one, I cannot see any negative emotions transpiring from the composition. But if this image was a black & white one, I would probably say that it reminded me of an earthquake, the colours make all the difference for me, not always, but certainly most of the times...
To me it's not only the blur or the angle that make this photo work so well, it's also the colours. So, for me, this is all about happiness, fireworks, a big party, jumping up and down, a rocket being sent to space, me without glasses, pure energy, passion, ...
It's the emotions that validade the photos not the tech**** This is pure power! I love it!

Phil Douglis20-Apr-2005 21:44
To have the keenly analytical minds of both Ruth and Zandra combine on this image is a rare honor. This is one of those images that uses form, in this case blur -- symbolic energy -- to inform content. You talk here, Zandra, of the role your current mood plays in reacting this image. As you and I have discussed before, images can mirror the mood of the viewer. This image was intended to establish an energetic mood. How you received that energy is dependent upon how you felt when looking at this picture. You tell me it seems like a nightmare, a scream, a fiery spear launched into a void. I would guess that you may have been feeling somewhat vulnerable and fragile to see such expressions here. As you say, when an image is abstracted to this degree, it becomes whatever the viewer wants it to become. I had intended this image to express excitement and heavenly aspirations thorough its energetic mood. But your mind, in its present mood, interprets that mood as one of disorientation and tension, which explodes in your mind. I'm sorry it shakes you up, but as you say, this image is expressive, and each of us comes to understand expression according to the mood, manner of seeing, and context we bring to it. Thanks so much for sharing your response, Zandra. At very least, this image made you think, and that, too, was part of my intention.
Guest 20-Apr-2005 06:46
I would agree with Ruth. Technically perfect pictures, without any other meaning to them are those that i often find boring, if not right away then atleast in a while. It is those picture that i get tired of in myown gallery for example. I may post some at times but then i delete them in a while as well cause they don't realy speek to me.

This reminds me of a nightmare Phil. As if the ground is shaking under my feet and the world has become a very unsecure place. It has taken me time to figure out this image as well as some of your others. At first i didn't see the meaning in it. It didn't speek to me. I think i needed some thing to realte to whe lookng at it and, my current mood for the past weeks has given me that i guess. Ther is a certain tension in it, a scream. I kind of get the feeling that you have capture my mind explodin cause of all the stress. The golden colour becomes fire, the point a spear and the dark corner the void that is left when everything else has disapeard. Due to itä's abstraction this image becomes whatever the viewer wants, or maybe no wants, but what the mind intapriate it to. Sure, the shape tells us this might be a building but the movment has disoriented us enough to give the image a second look, searching for what is behind, searching for the meaning. A bold shot yes, but expressive.
Phil Douglis16-Apr-2005 04:45
You and I are in agreement, Ruth. I will even go further -- ANY photograph that does not make me think, feel, or wonder, is boring. Technical perfection is a scientific goal. It has nothing at all to do with the expression of ideas. If you have read the introduction to my Cyberbook carefully, you will note that I define photographic expression as based on three principles, each of them demonstrated in my first three galleries. Abstraction, incongruity, and human values are all interpretive functions, not descriptive functions. And technical perfection is largely a measure of accurate and precise description. Technical perfection might be appropriate in commercial photography and scientific photography, and perhaps some areas of documentary and illustrative photography as well. But more often than not, it can dilute, conflict with, or even obscure meaning in expressive photography.
ruthemily16-Apr-2005 00:49
in my opinion a technically perfect photograph that doesn't make me think, is boring. the photos that stand out for me are those which spark something inside me - whatever that may be...ideas, emotion, deep thoughts. perfect technique is only important if the way you wish to express an idea requires it. after all, life is for living, feeling, being....not stressing over the details. thanks for your quick response!
Phil Douglis16-Apr-2005 00:32
Thanks, Ruth, for this wonderful comment. So many photographers burden themselves with concerns about what they shoot, instead of taking whatever may be given to them and expressing how they feel about it. I notice that you do this in your own work all the time. You take something very simple, and re think it -- making it appear fresh and vibrant and hopefully meaningful. You are right -- I put a torch to the Royal Palace here and launched it into the heavens where it belongs, at least for the moment. As for your philosophical musings, that's what our pictures are trying to do, right? Get the imagination going?
ruthemily16-Apr-2005 00:08
i think often the best situations, in this case photographs, come out of the trickiest of circumstances. it is like that phrase, something along the lines of the stars only shining when it is dark. perhaps i'm getting too philsophical, but it's refreshing to see this photo. so often i am at scenes wishing for something else...better light, different viewpoints and so on. you've opened my eyes to the possibility that there is something in everything.
the palace certainly does vibrate with energy here. with the intentional blurring the light turns to what to me look like flames.... powerful.
Phil Douglis07-Apr-2005 20:15
When you are faced with an "impossible" technical challenge, you don't try to solve it. You change the rules of the game and make a different kind of picture that exploits the very thing that once stymied you. That's what I've done here, Alister. There is no way I could have made a sharp, clear picture of this structure at night from a moving, vibrating boat. And so I asked myself how could I make the best possible unsharp, unclear picture of it? My answer is what you see here.
alibenn07-Apr-2005 09:56
Yes Phil, A bold move here. That shows your experience as an expressive travel photographer. Many point and shoot toting tourists would have tried to take the conventional image, but by your orientation to the strong diagonal, adding more shake, you have nicely abstracted this oft-photographed building.
Phil Douglis01-Mar-2005 18:48
Thanks, Mo, for pointing up the hidden benefits often found in disadvantageous situations. A wise man once said "necessity is the mother of invention" and that was the case here. Through blur and disorientation I've been able to create an atmosphere and mood that brings emotional excitement and energy to an otherwise descriptive scene.
monique jansen01-Mar-2005 14:48
By working a disadvantage into an advantage, you made this shot unique I think. Never quite seen it like this on a photo.
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