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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty: Controlling perspective with the wideangle lens > Corner Stall, Pakse, Laos, 2005
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Corner Stall, Pakse, Laos, 2005

I carefully used the optics of my 24mm wideangle lens to imply a sense of depth by selecting the corner stall of this market as my subject. It was open to traffic on two sides, and allowed me to move in just behind the corner of the stall, and anchor the picture with the table in the lower left hand corner and the mat at lower center. This foreground layer is very important because it provides a base upon which everything else rests. The subjects themselves dominate the middle layer of this image – the products on sale here are arrayed behind a woman holding an umbrella and her daughter who reaches out to fix something just as a woman walks past – only inches away –with her lunch in her hands. She pays no attention to the stall she is passing, or the people within it. The background layer adds context for the busy marketplace – we see more stalls, people, carts, and umbrellas. The wideangle embraces all of this and more, including plenty of negative space for that woman to walk into. The ebb and a flow of the market itself is symbolized within this little scene.


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Michael Tauber18-Jan-2006 17:55
Atmosphere is well expressed
Phil Douglis28-Feb-2005 06:45
I felt as I was part of a movie while making this, watching all of these "actors" going through their roles. Yet none of them seemed aware of each other. I spent a long time at this spot. It organized the flow of action so well for me.
Thanks, Junwu, for your perceptive comment.
Jun Wu27-Feb-2005 22:42
There are so many movements shown in this picture one might be forgiven for feeling like watching a movie scene. The steam coming out of the woman's bowl really adds much force to the picture, so do the two girls who are also participants to the scene, one following the woman with her eyes as she moves along the street and the other tending her mat and in the process almost touched the woman's foot. Great work, Phil!
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