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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty Four: The Workplace -- essence of a culture > Vineyard, Roseburg, Oregon, 2006
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12-JUN-2006

Vineyard, Roseburg, Oregon, 2006

The Girardet vineyards cover thirty acres southwest of Roseburg on the spot where the cool coastal climate meets the warm interior of the Umpqua Valley. It’s a perfect location for growing the vines that produce fine wines. I waited at the end of a row of vines until this tractor reached the other end, fully extending my telephoto lens to more than 400mm to compress foreground, middleground and background into a single plane. It is an image of a man at work -- a hot, dusty, tiring job. The lush green vines prove the worth of his labors.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30
1/320s f/5.6 at 88.8mm iso100 full exif

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Phil Douglis22-Jun-2006 00:27
You have really put this image into perspective for us, Rod. Seeing this as a reference to man as creature of nature is something I had not considered before, but now that you mention it, the tilt of the head, and those noise-mufflers he has clamped to his head do give him the feel of a worker ant. And yes, the leading lines and telephoto compression do cause us to feel what is happening here more vividly. When will his work end? When every lane is properly leveled so the vineyard can drain properly.
Guest 21-Jun-2006 23:02
What I love about this photo is its use of leading lines. The vines on either side help to lead the eye troughout the range of the composition. The compression allows us to 'feel' the work being done. I can almost hear the engine. Unlike the others, I never got a question of where he is going. I got a question of 'will his work ever end' as the abstract lines of the vines give me the illusion there is no end to that path.

I do agree with Catherine on one point: bcause of my questiong of wil his work end, plus the never ending lines, I get a sense the worker has become a type if insect, living off the fruit of the vines, burrowing through the ground for nutrients. His work is never ending like a worker ant. I defintely see her point of man versus nature. I tend to see it more as Man reverting back to nature (with tools).
Phil Douglis20-Jun-2006 18:41
Thanks, Armin. You point out a key factor here. A photograph should always involve the imagination of the viewer. By putting you into this image, I make you wonder where is going and what he may find when he gets there.
arminb20-Jun-2006 16:26
Agree with Catherine, I want to see where he's heading to, wonderful combination!
Phil Douglis18-Jun-2006 22:56
Thanks, Catherine, for extending my own vision on this one. Sometimes we get too close to our own images, and it takes somebody like you to breathe a breath of fresh air over it for us. That is what you have done for me here. Thank you for taking the longer view of it.
Guest 18-Jun-2006 22:18
It's more than a great presentation...I want to tilt to look where he goes from there..These picture I believe is more than an abstract.Maybe a synthesis of nature harvested by man and his mechanics? This has something that attracts me.Maybe the mixture of man versus nature..
Phil Douglis18-Jun-2006 18:09

Thanks for commenting, Barb. I present this image as an abstraction of work -- we can't see the man himself, but we are biting that dust with him, and we see the fruits of his labor trailing behind him.
Barb18-Jun-2006 11:59
Great presentation.
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