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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twelve: Using color to express ideas > The Pink Roofs of Patagonia, Punta Arenas, Chile, 2004
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04-JAN-2004

The Pink Roofs of Patagonia, Punta Arenas, Chile, 2004

Punta Arenas is a city of colorful tin roofs, and to capture their essence, I originally planned to find colors with the most startling contrast. This green and pink building, now a museum, seemed to offer a prefect subject, but not in the way I had first thought. The contrast here is not between the colors. Rather, it is caused by the interplay of light and shadow on those colors. This image powerfully underscores the effect of light on color. There is ample use of pink on this building, not only on the roofs but on the trim as well. Yet when seen in deep shadow, this vibrant color loses it’s energy and merges quietly into the green siding. The two pink roofs, however, are splashed with sunlight, creating striking highlights that dominate the image and tell the story.

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Phil Douglis21-Apr-2009 19:14
It's an unusual combination of colors, but very popular in Latin America. Thanks for your comment.
Guest 21-Apr-2009 17:11
My 2 fav colors pink and green : ]

WOW! ! ! : ]
Phil Douglis11-Mar-2006 22:15
What makes this into a doll house, Ramma? Its sense of fantasy! The delightfully shocking pink color is incongruously out of place, which puts us into the world of make believe.
Ramma 11-Mar-2006 12:26
A very pretty image. Looks like a doll house, literally !
Phil Douglis12-Jan-2005 23:54
Glad you fond such pleasure in this image, Yu-Lin Chan. I made this image primarily to demonstrate the effect of light and shadow on color, and am delighted you took it to new levels of personal meaning. As an expressive image, this picture obviously has the power to stimulate your imagination. I thank you for bringing the work and the thought that it takes to make a picture function in this manner. Thanks also for your kind words on my instructional galleries, and I wish you much success in your own imaging.
Yu-Lin Chan12-Jan-2005 16:56
This image really struck me and stirred my emotions. Each time I looked at it, it seems to convey different meanings. When I first looked this picture, I saw a butterfly flying towards the other waiting near the top of the roof. It's like they are calling each other. The second time I looked at it, the pink roof near the bottom becomes a pink heart, ready to take off and join the pink roof on top.

Thanks so much for all your wonderful images. I have learned so much from you. I am actually looking forward to retirement so that I can spend more time with photography :-)
Phil Douglis24-Feb-2004 19:53
Thanks, Anna. Light is always changing as the sun moves through the sky, or as clouds change its intensity. You are right -- as a tourist, we are often at the mercy of a schedule that has no regard for the quality, color, direction, or intensity of the light. We have to make the best of what we have. That's why I welcome "free time" at travel desitations. I will often take a scheduled tour or shore excursion in the morning to get the lay of the land, figure out my lighting angles, etc., and then come back on my own during my afternoon or evening free time to make the most of the light. Such was the case here in Punta Arenas.
Anna Yu24-Feb-2004 09:11
Very striking use of light here Phil. Which goes to show that one has to go back to certain objects during different times of the day. Not easy when tourist schedules are usually very short. A pity.
Regards/Anna
Phil Douglis27-Jan-2004 03:39
Thanks, Carol -- I'm glad you see what I saw in this image. It was quite startling, and since tin roofs were typical of Punta Arenas, I was fortunate to find one in the right time at the right light in the right colors. A hour later or an hour earlier, it would not have been the same picture.
Carol E Sandgren26-Jan-2004 21:05
Well you certainly succeeded in your search for startling contrasting of colors. And the shadows do add different tints of those startling colors in this very graphically pleasing image. I like how all of the colors are fairly flat and do not have much gradient variation in them. It would work as a poster image!
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