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

Rice Barge, Bangkok, Thailand, 2005

Copper is a rich color, conveying a mood of permanence. When I saw how the evening sun was reflecting off the copper plates on the hull of this old rice barge, I felt as if I was looking at a scene that has been shimmering there in the river for a long time, and will continue to do so. I intensified the reflection on both the hull and in the water by metering on the reflection itself, exposing for the highlights and letting everything else fall into the deep and mysterious shadows. Shadows also crate mood and atmosphere – by suggesting mystery and the unknown, they imply possible dangers as well. It is logical to get a sense of protection from this image. The copper clad hull helps keep this boat floating on a river full of unknown dangers, and for a long time to come. All of this is implied in the atmosphere I’ve created here through the interplay of color, light and shadow.

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Phil Douglis07-Jun-2006 05:42
I am glad you like this one, Jack. I don't find favorites myself -- I look at each image as an act of expression, and I find it hard to pass value judgement on such expression. I try to let each image do what it can. They are like my children -- I don't play favorites.
Guest 07-Jun-2006 03:12
This would be my favorite of this series. Simple, rich, beautiful colors.
Phil Douglis15-Mar-2005 22:54
I am delighted with this comment, Zandra, because you ask, in effect, why abstraction provokes atmosphere and emotion, the subjects of this gallery. By removing information from an image, we simplify it --as we do here. In simplifying it, we leave much more to the imagination of our viewers. Atmosphere and mood are often directly tied to the imagination. For example, certain colors, such as the warmth of the copper and gold here, provoke the imagination to associate this image with emotional needs as protection or security. And yes, the presence of water itself in an image can also can create atmosphere that triggers an emotional response. We are born in water. We need water for survival. We are physically made up largely of water. And water, like the copper and the gold, may trigger emotional feelings such as being protective or secure. Your own image of that boat and its reflection in your black and white gallery aroused a tactile response as well as asking us what is real and what is not. In this image, the reflection is far different than the reality of the boat, feathering and spreading the hull of copper, and blending it into the water itself. So this photograph is quite different in meaning from yours, although the subject matter is similar. Your comment has made me see this reflection as now posing a shimmering challenge -- urging us to test the waters with our own sense of adventure and exploration.
Guest 15-Mar-2005 18:30
Even though this is much mich warmer, this reminds me of my own boat pic "Calm" in my b&w gallery. Pictures like these are actually rahter easy targets. When abstracting them in this way, emotion and atmosphere seem to come along on the same path. I can't say why, but the combination, wodden boat and water always seem to make for a good subject to shot. It takes you close to the fundamentals in life. Water is one of our most fundamanetal needs and exploring one of our ways to fulfill ourselfes? Closness to the water gives us a sence of security and the boat gives us a sence of adventure. In combination we have what man kind alwasy seem to thrive for...exploring new unbroke ground, yet with an ancher to safety, someting that binds us to this earth, the water that protects us and gives us life, as without it we would be lost.
Phil Douglis01-Mar-2005 18:58
Thanks, Mo. It is the degree of abstraction caused by those dark shadows, that create much of the mysterious mood and atmosphere here. In Photoshop, I tried a number of different levels of shadowing. Some darker, some lighter. This level worked the best for me, and apparently for you as well.
monique jansen01-Mar-2005 15:25
Abstracted to perfection for me!
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