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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty: Controlling perspective with the wideangle lens > On the Avenida Jaurez, Guanajuato, Mexico, 2005
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26-OCT-2005

On the Avenida Jaurez, Guanajuato, Mexico, 2005

This image is about space and depth. The wideangle lens excels at implying depth, but in order to do so, it needs a strong foreground anchor. In this case, I anchor the image with the woman and child. They were only a few feet in front of me, but a 24mm focal length can embrace not only their full length, but the shadows they cast as well. The people in the background are really not as far away they seem, but the wideangle lens tends to make distant people or objects very small. The Basilica of Guanajuato, which rises in the background, seems to be a great distance from the camera, but it’s only about a block away. By making everything smaller than it looks to the eye, the wideangle lens spreads the image not only in width, but also in implied depth. I converted this image to black and white because I wanted to create a double abstraction. I am shooting straight into the sun, which is just over the Basilica and out of the frame. A streak of flare suggests its presence. This strong backlighting, along with my deliberate underexposure, has turned everything into a silhouette, and stresses the roughened texture of the cobblestone street. Black and white is a medium of abstraction, and by choosing to make this image monochromatic, as well as underexposed, roughly textured and deeply shadowed, I’ve tried to make time stand still. The wideangle perspective puts us all into this image – we might as well jump in, and start walking.

Canon PowerShot G6
1/2000s f/8.0 at 7.2mm full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis21-Nov-2007 02:32
Thanks, Carole, for choosing this one -- it is one of my favorite images from our Guanajuato/San Miguel trip. I agree with all you say -- the wideangle allows me to emphasize the woman and child yet still get the entire street, all the way back to the Cathedral, in the frame and in focus. I love the flare coming down the sky over the Cathedral as well, part of the sun that leaves everyone here in the shadows.
Carole Scurlock21-Nov-2007 01:08
Can't help making a comment on this one. This was one of my favorite streets in Guanajuato for capturing morning shadows. Shooting straight down the street to include the distant buildings dramatizes the perspective. I'm drawn to the mystery of the image -there are two things going on and your exposure leaves their faces in shadow.
Phil Douglis12-Aug-2006 17:56
You see everything I wanted you to see here, Jeffrey. The wideangle lens allows us to stretch our composition as I am able to do here. And thanks also for recognizing the value of the "flaws" -- the noise, flare, and under exposed detail do indeed add a layer of time to this image.
Guest 12-Aug-2006 13:55
This image is so well composed. As well as the foreground anchor, you've positioned the row of posts perfectly, just to the left of center, which enhances the dramatic perspective. Well processed, too-- one might have been temptes to try to correct out the noise in the sky and/or the lens flare, but the noise complements the texture of the street nicely, and both it and the flare give the image an older, timeless feel. So well done!
Phil Douglis17-Apr-2006 07:20
Indeed, Likyin, this image rises! The street runs uphill. That is what drew me to this spot!
Guest 07-Apr-2006 00:42
I like the flowding and rising feeling of the image. Especially when looking at it in distance, the scene becomes more abstract and the woman and child turn to walk away from us. Then, everything starts to flow slowly towards the tower at the end of the street, and at the same time rising. I believe the illusion of rising is created by upright spirit of the central building.

I like it in black and white, which created the transparent grey scale. Things seem to be overlapped, and moving accross each other.
Phil Douglis13-Nov-2005 18:22
Thanks, PA, for our comment. I enjoy turning day into night by backlighting and underexposing my subject. You are right -- there are surreal elements in this photograph. My goal, as always, is to stimulate your imagination. That is what expressive photography should do for viewers.
PA 13-Nov-2005 06:22
Phil, I see what you have tried to do. I must add that my first impression when I saw it before reading your comment was that it was under the moonlight and the moonray looked like surreal, as if an extraterrestrial was going to land. I could not see why children would walk in the street so late at night. Maybe I have too much imagination... Your comment places everything into prespective.
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