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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Seventy Two: Bringing the museum to life > Roman gravestone, Archaeological museum, Rhodes, Greece, 2011
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22-NOV-2011

Roman gravestone, Archaeological museum, Rhodes, Greece, 2011

Found in the cemetery at Kameiros on the Island of Rhodes, this Roman gravestone from 420 BC depicts a dead mother, known as Timarista, bidding farewell to her daughter Krito. It is an emotional piece of ancient sculpture, and as I approached it, the diagonal reflection from a nearby window seemed to reach out and embrace it. Using my spot-metering mode, I exposed for this reflection, throwing the balance of the scene into dark shadow. The shadow abstracts the image, creating a somber yet nostalgic mood that interprets the nature of the subject. In my museum photography, I see no need to simply describe the objects on display. Instead, I prefer to use my camera to find ways to express how an object may feel, and what it may say.

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Phil Douglis03-Jan-2012 17:32
Thanks, Tim. Both you and Carol are in agreement with me on this -- the transition from light to dark can certainly be interpreted as a metaphor for the transition from life to death.
Tim May02-Jan-2012 23:45
Another stunning image from Phil - The light, as Carol says, speaks to me of the transition between life and death.
Phil Douglis17-Dec-2011 04:25
Thanks, Carol, for responding to the point of this image so beautifully. The reflection of the window does indeed seem to beckon the dead. Interpret this as you will -- that is why I made this image in this manner. If you do a Google Image Search for the Tamarista/Krito gravestone, you will only find images that describe the stone in detail. My own image of it does not intend to do that -- instead I am trying to bring this museum object to life in your own imagination, as you note.
Carol E Sandgren16-Dec-2011 23:54
The overlay of the highlights onto the gravestone really pique my interest here. It is as if the light is reaching for and about to fetch up the portrayed departed from the earth.
An image such as this can speak volumes however one would interpret it personally.
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