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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty Nine: The Layered Image – accumulating meaning > Souvenir Shop, Athens, Greece, 2005
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20-SEP-2005

Souvenir Shop, Athens, Greece, 2005

This image tells its story because of the layers used to build expression. The bush that makes up the foreground layer is in the sunlight, and surges with life and energy. The cluster of busts for sale in the window makes up the middle-ground layer, which contrasts strongly to the bush. The busts may absorb the reflection of the bush, but they seem gaze wistfully out the window. The background layer features a sculpture of a discuss thrower who goes about his work, unmindful of the gathering of heads blocking his view of the street and the bush. Together, the layers fuse to give the illusion of depth, and far away in world of their own – a darker, inanimate world of the past. Two of these busts seem to be staring at each other, while the other two – identical except in size – contemplate the bush. Together, these layers contrast reality to fantasy, life to art, new growth to old ideas.

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Phil Douglis24-Jan-2006 01:40
If this image makes you imagine the interaction between the various busts, it is doing its job as an expressive photograph.
Guest 22-Jan-2006 05:19
Mr. Douglis, It is interesting to see how layers play a role here, as you have mentioned - the green bush, then the first row of busts. I also like to imagine the interaction between the characters represented by the busts; some seem to be interacting while others ignore what is happening around them. Vertical and horizontal lines also mark limits between layers.
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