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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Forty-Nine: Creating an echo with rhythm and pattern > The road to Ship Rock, Ship Rock, New Mexico, 2007
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09-NOV-2007

The road to Ship Rock, Ship Rock, New Mexico, 2007

Ship Rock is the erosional remnant of the throat of a volcano. It was originally formed 3000 feet below the earth's surface and exposed after millions of years of erosion. Huge dikes radiate from the central formation in the distance. A landmark in Northwestern New Mexico and Northeastern Arizona, this huge rock is visible from as far as fifty miles away. The rock itself, which resembles a sailing ship when seen from one side, appears as a rough triangle here. I was drawn to this scene because of the triangular shapes at either side of the cattle crossing, framing the entrance to the road. The ridge that leads to Ship Rock also offers several implied triangles. Triangular shapes repeat throughout this image, linking the foreground to both the middleground and background.

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

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Phil Douglis28-Apr-2008 00:19
Most open gates can symbolize an invitation to proceed inside. But in this case, I am not sure we want to proceed. The road ahead is difficult, and the paint stained iron slatted bridge, designed to discourage livestock, is hardly a welcoming sight either. Thanks, Iris, for suggesting the metaphor of the Navajo Nation. Navajo history is a long, hard, and often sad tale, very much in keeping with this long, difficult trail along a landscape that could be at home on the moon.
Iris Maybloom (irislm)27-Apr-2008 23:03
One of the most unique images of Ship Rock I have ever seen. The landscape is foreboding; it illustrates the harshness of the environment that the Navajo nation has had to endure.
Phil Douglis30-Nov-2007 23:26
I do not expect you, or anyone else, to take particular notice of the triangular shapes for their own sake. But I do expect your subconscious to see the repetition of shapes, which link the foreground to both the middle ground and the background. It is similar to when you look at a painting -- we are not conscious of the textured brush strokes that give a painting a dimensional approach and make it seem alive. Yet our subconscious processes the image taking those strokes into account. The painting works because of them. Just as this image works because of the triangles.
Patricia Lay-Dorsey30-Nov-2007 22:21
I really like the perspective in this image. With the cattle crossing in the foreground, you draw my eye in and then the dirt path below and ridges above carry me back to Ship Rock itself. I would not have noticed the repeated triangular shapes had you not pointed them out. But it is the nature of art to be filled with secret clues.
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