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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Thirty: When walls speak and we listen > Shadows of the past, Kotor Town, Montenegro, 2005
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14-SEP-2005

Shadows of the past, Kotor Town, Montenegro, 2005

Medieval Kotor Town is a warren of medieval streets and tiny squares. I wanted to use the looming late afternoon shadows to abstract a small section of the town and allow the old walls to speak to the imaginations of my viewers. I found one small square where the shadow of an entire building overlapped with another, creating a dark wall superimposed upon a lighted one. I waited for a small figure to step into a thin window of light falling between the two shadows. In doing so, her own shadow is projected on an old wall precisely where the shadows come together. They embrace her, but she is too deep in thought to notice. These shadowy walls, which are hundreds of years old, are living history, the stuff of dreams. It is the abstraction of light and shadow that gives voice to them here.

Canon PowerShot G6
1/1250s f/4.0 at 11.2mm full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis14-Jun-2006 17:13
It is digital technology at work here, Jack -- a combination of my use of the spot meter to "paint with light" and Photoshop, which allows me to adjust exposure to intensify the interplay of light and shadow.
Guest 08-Jun-2006 22:16
This is the kind of image I've tried for years to capture with my Leica M3 and its light meter. I think the digital technology helps us do this now. Obviously I love the image!!
Phil Douglis03-Oct-2005 17:04
Thanks, Kal. Carefully planned, too. I waited for at least ten minutes for a figure to hit that spot. The instant after I made the image, the figure stopped, and came over to me. I thought she was going to berate me for taking her picture. Hah! She was a member of my own tour group, and was more than happy to come along at that moment and make my image work!
Kal Khogali03-Oct-2005 11:57
A wonderful travel moment. I see a jigsaw puzzle of light, shadow, colour and textures. Great image.
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