Tuna Fisherman, Manta, Ecuador, 2003 by Phil Douglis

Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Three: Expressing human values > Tuna Fisherman, Manta, Ecuador, 2003

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21-DEC-2003

Tuna Fisherman, Manta, Ecuador, 2003

His day is over. The catch is in. He can relax while others finish the job. I found this fisherman sitting upon a net on the cluttered deck of an Ecuadorian Tuna boat. I included the floats and the big tarp as context. His red shirt and the blue hull of the ship offer primary colors that enrich the image and make it stick in our memory. But it is his body language that conveys the human values in this photo. He seems to be at rest. He looks away from me – preoccupied with his own thoughts. Solitude is a human value. This photograph is based upon it.

Canon PowerShot G5
1/200s f/4.0 at 17.6mm full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto

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Phil Douglis		24-Sep-2005 02:57
Glad you pick up on the contrast of attire and posture here, Rama -- it is a subtle incongruity.

ramma		03-Sep-2005 09:52
i love his posture, he seems so content. His attire and posture are such contrasts ! beautiful capture

Phil Douglis		05-Jan-2005 21:44
Glad you found Mikel, Clara and Nut's comments helpful, Vera. They are three brilliant people with vivid imaginations, and great minds can help us all learn. I am sure that your comments have been just as helpful to them. And wait till you read Zandra's comments that are just starting to appear in my first few galleries this past week. Incredible imagination that never stops -- it just keeps going, building on each idea she has into many others. Vera has a great imagination as well, as you show us here. As I have always maintained, this is no one right or wrong interpretation of an expressive image. Each viewer tends to put a lot of themselves into their commentary. This fisherman is really becoming Vera, because Vera has become this fisherman. You mirror Vera's attitudes toward life, here, and give them to this tuna fisherman. This picture thus becomes your image as much as it is mine. And that is what I intend with my images, Vera. I want you to put as much of yourself into them as well. I ask the questions here, and you give the answers. And you give damned good ones, too.

Guest		05-Jan-2005 05:05
I've learned a lot from Mikel's, Clara's and Nut's thoughts below. :-) Now, my own little thoughts: I don't think it's his ultimate fate to be captured by the net. You see, he's looking to the right (or to his left side) while deep in thoughts. . . there must be something fascinating in that direction that attacts his attention -- perhaps that's his new future & new life, perhaps that's where Florida (his utopia, apparently) is! He is more than ready to get up and go -- wearing clean runner shoes & socks instead of fisherman's boots, all he needs is just make up his mind, get up and exit easily through the lower right corner. v.

Phil Douglis		31-Dec-2004 04:34
As a professional photojournalist, Mikel, you are well aware of how the structure of this image affects its meaning. I deliberately closed him off from his ship by removing much of the context around him, only suggesting, rather than describing the ship he occupies. He is indeed closed in. The first human value you suggest here is exhaustion. I agree, although I think his solitude, also a human value, is just as important to this image. You go on to explore in your own imagination all of the possible scenarios that could be going through his head. So I think we can add reflection to our growing list of human values expressed by this image.

Guest		30-Dec-2004 20:17
I decided to give it a try at least untill dinner time. As Clara said he looks traped in his own net... I could think in a similar but a different way. The image has not much air anywere, just a bit of light comming in the left side for the rest, he is like fisicaly trapped in the picture, though what interests me is what can he be thinking. First of all he is tired so I doubt that he will be thinking about very complex things the fisical exhaustment also brings to a mental exhaustment. Perhaps he is just fixing his eyes in a point and having his mind blanct out of any thoughts not necessary just like sleepeng awake. In any case his face denotes observation. Or perhaps the thoughts? Usually when I stop working the first moments I still have my head with all the photos in my mid, I don't think that in his case he will have the tunas in his mind but yes some work related things since he doesen't eather seem eager to rush home. If I were a fisherman probably I wold be wondering were wold I go tomorrow and for how long, I supose. Or perhaps he is thinking in he's family that he left them in some other port, I can't tell you since don't get the conception if these are floating factories or just normal small vessels. It is certainly a difficult image to get to the bottom of it but it does call the attention the person in his red t-shirt that together with the two mettal bars of the howl give the likght point and the geometry to the photo.

Phil Douglis		04-Dec-2004 04:10
You are the first to see this image as a "captured fisherman." I love your imagination, Clara. You take my images and often give them an entirely new twist by seeing them inside out. I won't look at him again without thinking of what you've said!

Guest		03-Dec-2004 21:20
The fisherman is captured by the net, that is his fate after all. He can only stop to think about it.

Phil Douglis		14-Nov-2004 19:48
Engrossed in the loop of thought! What a perfect caption for this picture, Nut.

nut		14-Nov-2004 15:51
Engrossed in the loop of thought.

Guest		23-Oct-2004 13:16
In the past I did not know how to place people in my photo.Large or small?Bust portrait or full portrait?Your words give me the answer."He seems to be at rest. He looks away from me ?preoccupied with his own thoughts. Solitude is a human value. This photograph is based upon it. "Thank you for leaving these words. I love photographing because this is a way to communicate with others.Although you keep a distance away to this fisherman,there was a communion between you and him,and it was better than interrupting him and talking with him.

Phil Douglis		10-Aug-2004 06:38
Thanks, Manny, for your kind comments on this environmental portrait. It is one of my favorite images because it so completely captures both a mood and sense of place. I have no issues with the sharpness, which is adequate for its purpose, or with those white shoes, which to me seem incongruous for a fisherman. What may look out of place to you is incongruous to me -- which are really one and the same. Hope we can get together when I come through Bangkok in January.

Manuel Libres Librodo Jr.		10-Aug-2004 06:25
I like the diagonals within the frame. I also like the distinct colours, each occupying a distinct place. Personally though, looking at your other pics, this one pales in comparison. If I were to nitpick, I would say that the man is not very sharp and his clothes (with that white shoes) looks out of place. But Phil, this is an outstanding in-the-context picture. Your compositional skills are very good. School has started and I am back to my usual busy 7:00 am to 3:00 pm busy schedule. Your thoughts about meeting in Bangkok is a very good idea. I am not so sure yet about my schedule by then as it is dependent on some people. I will be home to the Philippines on Christmas and still uncertain about my return flight. Reagrds and thanks for all your kind words and advices. They are all well-taken. Sincerely, Manny

Phil Douglis		28-Mar-2004 20:42
Thanks, Bruce, for your perceptive comment. I always make a number of pictures of my subjects, and this fellow was no exception. I began shooting a lot closer to him, and gradually backed away to graphically relate him to his environment. When looking at other portraits on pbase, I see so many that show only the subject itself. I always come away frustrated -- wishing I could see these people within environments that told me who they were. And that's what I've tried to do here. Look at the work of Arnold Newman, perhaps our greatest portrait photographer, at:http://www.peterfetterman.com/artists/newman/newman_sm.html Notice how, in so many of his memorable images, he provides symbolic environmental context that greatly enhances meaning. And thanks, too, for your comment on Minor White's important suggestion. Too often we lose sight of why we make pictures. In fact, I think many photographers make them just to make them. To have any value, a photograph must accomplish something. If it can reach out and affect the way viewers think or feel, and perhaps even influence their actions, it will have done its job well.

Guest		28-Mar-2004 15:14
With the strong diagonals and smooth textures in the foreground, this initially comes across as a very dynamic image, which is then juxtaposed with the calm repose of the individual. A very interesting choice, as I think many would be tempted to go with a far tighter crop on the fisherman himself. Your quote from Minor White is very powerful and thought-provoking. Stopped me in my tracks.

Phil Douglis		29-Jan-2004 04:44
Your comment, Carol, is a tribute to photography's ability to influence the human imagination. By asking questions and demanding answers from the viewer, a photograph triggers thoughts and ideas that could lead to others. Years ago, I took a workshop with the great photographer, editor, and philosopher, Minor White. He told us something I've never forgotten. He said that a photograph itself is not an end in itself. It is only a step in a process, a catalyst for thought. It's what goes on in the mind of the viewer that is most important, according to White. So the next time you pick your camera, imagine it as a device to stimulate thoughts and ideas in the minds of your viewers, and you will be on a track to move to a new level as a photographer.

Carol E Sandgren		29-Jan-2004 03:20
We just want to know what thoughts he is wrapped up in. Home for the day in a few minutes? The size of his catch that day? Your photo really focuses in largely on the man's thoughtful expression on his face. Inquiring minds want to know (but never will!)

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