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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty Three: Stirring emotions through atmosphere and mood. > Barbershop, Williams, Arizona, 2007
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06-AUG-2007

Barbershop, Williams, Arizona, 2007

I could almost smell the aroma of this vintage barbershop as I gently pressed my lens hood up against its plate glass window. The 1/10th of a second shutter speed required both a steady hand and the use of image stabilization control. Much of this barbershop’s mood is due to the fact that it is empty. Those fifty year-old barber chairs will have to wait a few more hours for their next customers. The raw light cast by the florescent bulbs adds a hint of loneliness to the scene. If you look at this image carefully, you will spot a wall-mounted head of a deer or elk hidden in the shadows at the back of the shop. It adds a rustic exclamation point to the mood of this picture.

Leica V-Lux 1
1/10s f/2.8 at 7.4mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis14-Aug-2007 22:52
This barbershop was on the same street as the window in the previous image. I studied every window on the street for possible subject matter which would evoke a mood and capture the atmosphere of small town America at night. The fact that the barbershop is closed gives it a lonely feeling, reminding me in a way of the mood that Edward Hopper conveyed in his urban paintings from the 1930s and 40s. Your experience in that men's barbershop in Washington was wonderful, Patricia. I recall the touch of many a soft barber's brush on my own neck, and the smell of talc to go with it. Glad this image stirs such thoughts -- that was what I had hoped it would do.
Patricia Lay-Dorsey14-Aug-2007 20:22
Oh my God, man, where do you find places like this??? I wonder if I would have just gone on by and never looked in the window. I'm sure glad you did.

This reminds me of the day a year ago when I was mounting a solitary peace demonstration in front of the White House. It was Day 17 and a heat spell had been going on the entire time. When I'd gotten to my usual corner, things were blocked off and a cop was guarding the street so no one passed through. Seems there'd been an unidentified package left in front of the White House and they had to investigate it origins.

So I scooted up the street and soon saw a barber shop with a cool looking African American woman standing out front. She had a great haircut and I asked if she'd gotten it there. "Go to Darrell in the last chair." And so I did.

I was the only woman and the only non-African American person in this old-fashioned 7-chair barber shop. I ended up spending one of the most amazing hours of my life in that place...and got a great haircut to boot. So when I look at this photo I remember Darrell and his gentle spirit, Patrice and his taking time to talk with me, the smells and sounds of a man's barber shop, and the feel of that soft white brush Darrell used to get loose hairs off my neck.

Thanks for taking me back there, Phil.
Phil Douglis12-Aug-2007 01:25
It is very much in use, Tim. It was just closed for the evening. It is spotless. Every hair has been swept from the floor, and every magazine is in place. It makes feel me comfortable, too. It has the macho feeling of a man's club (dead deer on wall, etc.) , a far cry from the unisex hair stylists of today.
Tim May11-Aug-2007 22:55
I'm not sure if the barbershop is still in use. But I love the neatness of it. Often place of the past are disorderly and in a jumble. Here everything is neat and clean, even the stacks of magazines. It makes me feel comfortable.
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