photo sharing and upload picture albums photo forums search pictures popular photos photography help login
Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Forty-Two: Adding meaning to scenic vistas > French fort, Sahara Desert, Morocco, 2006
previous | next
18-DEC-2006

French fort, Sahara Desert, Morocco, 2006

The ruins of an old French Foreign Legion fort, dating back to the French protectorate in Morocco (1912) can still be seen in the Sahara Desert. A lonely pair of Acacia trees has incongruously taken root next to it. The textures of the desert draw the eye towards the trees, the focal point of the image. The wall of the old fort points to the trees as well. The explosion of their branches is echoed by the pattern of clouds behind them.

Leica D-Lux 3
1/500s f/7.1 at 6.3mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
share
Phil Douglis27-Jun-2007 18:27
The pair of trees make this vista work, Ai Li. I use the fort as context. This image is really a landscape played against a cloudscape. As for your own composition, the great beauty of expressive photography is that there is no one way to make an image. Each photographer should have their own point, tell their own story, and compose their own images accordingly. This image is how I saw it, felt it, and interpreted it.
AL27-Jun-2007 15:33
I probably choose a different composition but I like how the pair of trees faithfully kept the fort company as the latter might have witnessed many generations of the pair.
Phil Douglis13-Jan-2007 19:47
Thanks, Shirley, for noting the impact of the man-made subject amidst the work of nature here. One gets the feeling that eventually that wall will crumble and become desert as well. Man comes and man goes, but nature prevails.
Shirley Wang13-Jan-2007 13:21
Even though the tree is in the center, the wall draws our attention immediately because it's manmade among the natural background. I like this.
Type your message and click Add Comment
It is best to login or register first but you may post as a guest.
Enter an optional name and contact email address. Name
Name Email
help private comment