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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Fifty Three: creating energy through tension > Hard labor, near My Tho, Vietnam, 2007
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31-DEC-2007

Hard labor, near My Tho, Vietnam, 2007

I organized this image as a study in tension. I deliberately isolated one worker from the rest, and placed the figure about as close as I could to the top of the image, creating tension between the body and the edge of the frame. There is also tension expressed in the imbalance I express by devoting so much space to the rice and so little space to the worker. I intensify this tension by framing the rice field in perfect symmetry, and then hurling the image into spatial imbalance through the asymmetrical position of the worker. The tension expressed through this imbalance makes the backbreaking work yet to be done seem even more formidable.

Leica V-Lux 1
1/500s f/5.6 at 53.9mm iso100 full exif

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Phil Douglis19-Apr-2008 03:38
Glad this makes you think in terms of water,V. The fields are well irrigated, and Vietnam tends to have heavy rains anyway, which is why it is a rice growing country.
Guest 12-Apr-2008 19:28
I believe that line done the center is water reminding us that with very little of it we can gain so much. This carefully irrigated water makes the work possible. For me the tension in this photo comes from thinking about what would happen without the water. Though this is hard work how thankful many others would be to have this field of rice, especially with the news of so many countries suffering food shortages.
Phil Douglis26-Feb-2008 20:26
Thanks, Tim -- the rigidity of that line flowing up the center of this image draws the eye to its abrupt ending at the rigidly horizontal ditch, which then leads us over to the worker in the upper left hand corner of the frame. The lines form a grid of sorts, giving the image its structure and much of its meaning. While growing rice may be a natural process, there is nothing casual or accidental about this scene -- man brings to it a rigid sense of order and organization to maximize productivity. Those lines are really about control, aren't they?
Tim May26-Feb-2008 17:27
As I look at so many of your images from the Vietnam trip, I find myself effected by them in ways beyond analysis. This is one of those images. I think this image draws me because of the rigidity of the lines, especially the one down the center.
Phil Douglis19-Jan-2008 20:55
Yes, the cycle repeats itself. By placing the worker on the edge, I imply that there will be a lot more work not only ahead of him, but behind him as well.
monique jansen19-Jan-2008 09:58
You make us see that the work of a farmer is never done - an endless circle, year after year after year.
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