Walking with shadows, Beijing, China, 2006 by Phil Douglis

Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Thirty Four: Photographing the tourist in all of us > Walking with shadows, Beijing, China, 2006

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13-MAR-2006

Walking with shadows, Beijing, China, 2006

The morning sun casts long shadows in Old Beijing. This camera-toting tourist is getting a head start on a long day. I noticed how the low angle of the sun painted the wall with the shape of the surrounding trees and waited for a person to cast his or her shadow between them. This tourist entered my frame, and just as his shadow hit the sweet spot on the wall, he adjusted the cameras position on his shoulder. It is an incongruous image – he does not seem to be aware of the evocative power of his own shadow on the wall behind him. His body blocks our view of his camera, yet we clearly see it hanging in the air as a shadow. It is another example how a picture of a fellow tourist can offer us an expressive travel impression.

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Phil Douglis		18-Aug-2009 18:24
Thanks, Chris. I try to see, not just look, when I am behind the camera. The difference between looking and seeing ultimately helps define the value of a photograph as expression. Thank for your noting this composition, Chris -- I had previsualized this picture, so that when this man's shadow hit the sweet spot, I was ready and waiting for it.

Chris Sofopoulos		18-Aug-2009 08:29
Amazing how you saw and made this composition Phil. So creative!

Phil Douglis		21-Jun-2007 17:36
Thanks, Jenene for seeing the wisdom of context here. Your own lovely image athttp://www.pbase.com/image/80503847 covers the same ground, but in a different way.

JSWaters		20-Jun-2007 23:16
I remember this image, Phil, and I'm surprised I haven't commented. I get an overwhelming feeling of being watched here and I'm sure it has to do with the size and shape of those shadows. Your tourist hurries along, unaware of the looming tree shadow behind him, and even though he seems oblivious to his connection to nature, you certainly allude to it. As for Cecelia's comments about leaving the top of the wall in; for me, it allows the image to breath and be less confining, less threatening. I did very much the same with my image on which you've just commented - the living tree and the bit of open sky were important in telling the story I wanted to tell. Jenene

Phil Douglis		18-Jun-2006 18:01
Thanks for pointing out the flying feet -- I did not notice that they were both off the ground at this instant until you mentioned it. Thanks, Alister, for noting the role of motion and energy here.

alibenn		18-Jun-2006 09:31
This is great Phil, I missed it when you first posted this gallery... Very Beijing, even a shadow bicycle wheel in the lower right..I think you nailed the crop on this one too as I see this less about abstraction and more about motion and energy. He's not walking, he's running, both feet are off the ground, the bag slung over the left shoulder, so brilliantly abstracted in the shadow, revealing so much more than in real life. A great one Phil...

Phil Douglis		11-May-2006 15:54
Thanks, Ana, for this comment. I am always amazed at how shadows can march behind their subjects to a different beat. And that is exactly what drew me to this scene.

Ana Carloto O'Shea		11-May-2006 15:41
I like this one a lot, mostly because of the way the shadow seems to have a life of its own and do not in any way realate to the man... The angle makes it so, but when I look at these effects created by the shadows I always find them magical ;)

Phil Douglis		22-Apr-2006 00:13
Thanks, Celia for seeing the relationship of man and nature here. The tree and shadow are both parts of nature, and frame him well, as does the top of the building. I kept them in for very much the same reasons I kept those two posts in my image of the moving newsstand athttp://www.pbase.com/image/58762514 . See my response to your comment on that picture for more....

Cecilia Lim		21-Apr-2006 22:04
A creature with limbs. A creature that walks. A shopper. A red sign. A moving clothes display. This man may be many things today, but the sun has extracted the true essence of this creature in its shadow - he is infact a camera toting tourist! Gasp! I was just wondering Phil - shadows already imply the existence of things that are nearby, so is there a need to include the real tree in your image? Wouldn't it be more interesting if you didn't give it away (I'm thinking more abstraction here) Also, do we really need to know how high that wall is? Did you leave it in because the bit of scallop pattern roof offered some context as reference to something Chinese? Just wanted to know your thoughts behind this choice of cropping.

Phil Douglis		19-Apr-2006 00:37
Thanks, Tim -- you may be right. A part of me no doubt follows along as I shoot, my photo-guardian, so to speak. You know my habits quite well by now.

Tim May		18-Apr-2006 20:50
I see this as a metaphor for you - especially on your morning photographic walks in the far reaches of the world. You spiritedly spring into the morning light - but behind you - driving you on is your camera - your prod - the holder of the memory of your deep and broad vision.

Phil Douglis		18-Apr-2006 00:01
Thanks for picking up on the diagonal rhythms here, Xin. You are right -- look at the far right branch and look at the trailing leg. They are in identical positions, and keep the picture moving along.

Sheena Xin Liu		17-Apr-2006 19:48
Wow...what a shadow there! The movement of the tourist and the stillness of the tree were diagonally mirrored onto that wall. This reminds me of something called "Larger than Life"

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