photo sharing and upload picture albums photo forums search pictures popular photos photography help login
Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Sixteen: Story-telling street photography > Watched, 23rd Street, New York City, 2006
previous | next
07-AUG-2006

Watched, 23rd Street, New York City, 2006

I constructed a geometric image, based on the triangle etched into the sidewalk, and continuing with the rectangles and squares of the building and posters behind it. I photographed many different people as they walked into and through my geometric “stage set.” This pair worked most expressively – they walk in opposite directions, eyes fixed straight ahead. They don’t know (or care) that both the woman in the poster and the photographer are carefully watching them pass. I release the shutter as each of them merge into the walls flanking the woman in the poster, yet still remain within the triangle on the sidewalk. They are frozen in time, just as the woman in the poster is. Yet they will keep walking. The woman in the poster will always hold her pose. She seems to be wondering why they won’t.

Leica D-Lux 2
1/125s f/4.0 at 6.3mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
share
Phil Douglis05-Jun-2007 21:22
As usual, you elevate the meaning of one of my images to a new and thought provoking level, Ceci. You see this image as social commentary, a scathing indictment of advertising's influence on those who can't afford the things they buy. You see it as a metaphor on the manipulation of young women for commercial purposes, with disastrous consequences. The model is extraordinary in both scale and beauty. The pedestrians are smaller, and look quite ordinary by comparison. The juxtaposition is incongruous and if it raises such issues as you mention in the minds of my viewers, it means this image is working on the imagination. And that is what an expressive image is supposed to do. Thanks again for adding your voice to the dialog that is taking place here, Ceci.
Guest 05-Jun-2007 20:24
To me this photo talks about the vast divide between the haves and havenots of the world, the people making millions off the use of innocent youth for their advertising purposes, and the common man scrounging to make a living. The woman in the ad, heavily made up with artificially colored hair, has been (according to what we know of the fashion industry) provoked or lured or prompted to "look sexy" for the camera, and so she has. Her false promise of this most basic need and drive stares out over the heads of what look like two immigrants, hurrying past on their way to somewhere, who have more pressing business than whatever the poster is selling. The manipulation of young women for commerce is rampant throughout the world, creating disillusion, malcontent, anorexic bodies, unhealthy comparison, body-image problems and vast riches -- while the "real world" goes about its business full of "ordinary" people who are not of much interest to photographers. Except here. I'm glad you took this (extreme) juxtaposition for me to come and look at!
Phil Douglis21-Jan-2007 18:52
The power of advertising, Rammaa, is pervasive. The model was selected for the ad because of the beauty and power of her eyes. The photographer who shot the ad stressed the eyes, along with the hair, by obscuring one of them. I intensfy the power of the ad by inserting a layer of indifference, confronting my viewers with this incongruity and activating not only their emotions, but their imaginations. Just as you so beautifully describe.
Phil Douglis11-Jan-2007 04:57
Thanks, Bernard, for this comment. I am glad my galleries are changing the way you see. What is happening, of course, is that you are seeing how to see selectively, which is essential -- the camera sees unselectively, and we must bend it to our will, even in street photography.
Bernard Bosmans11-Jan-2007 03:17
Yes this is a wonderful image where your foresight and patience is rewarded. Your performers are unaware of the big discount on hair style or bearded face behind the searching lens.
Often you need not only a good eye but a little luck as well,to capture the moment as in my case in this shot.
http://www.pbase.com/bernard74/image/57706336
Thanks Phil, your galleries full of great images and valuable insights, made me see the world in a different light and aspect. You've opened my eyes.
Phil Douglis27-Nov-2006 02:16
Thanks, Ade -- it took a lot of tries until I was able to make it work.
Guest 26-Nov-2006 20:21
love the timing here phil as they go off in their directions
Phil Douglis23-Aug-2006 19:32
You and I, along Kal and Henry Ho and many others, feast on this kind of imagery, Jen. And there is nothing wrong with coming back to this theme again and again, either. It's very much like coming back to portraits or landscapes as subject matter. The concept of juxtaposing commercially seductive advertising with oblivious passersby is not any fresher than the concept of photographing a sunset with a silhouette of an exotic plant or tree in the foreground (http://www.pbase.com/pnd1/image/65499667 ) The question is, how do we TREAT those well-worn subjects to make the APPROACH fresh. In this case, the image is based on the relationship of the people to each other, the poster, and that triangle. They are, as you point out, trapped in a world of materialism by the geometry of this image. That, to me anyway, is a fresh way of handling a tired subject. Just as I tried to do in my sunset image -- it is the powerful cloud pattern that changes it from an ordinary to an extraordinary scene. You are right -- we should always try to find different ways to interpret things we have photographed before. Thank you, Jen, for raising this issue.
Jennifer Zhou23-Aug-2006 07:53
This is a moment that everything falls into places.. I love the big poster along with the 50% off sign and the big "$" sign.. And the triangle lines on the sidewalk seem like trapping people into this materialized world.. I can see that you often come back to this theme, but you always find different ways to interpret it..
Phil Douglis18-Aug-2006 19:47
Your powerful image inspired this one, Ai Li. It was very much in my thoughts when I saw this sexually alluring ad staring out at these disinterested pedestrians. Your image is tight and collapses foreground into background, making them one. My image is wideangle, opening space and stressing flow and movement in an altogether different way. We each cover the same ground, but take differing journeys. It is a joy to teach you, Ai Li, and an even greater pleasure to learn from you.
AL18-Aug-2006 10:06
Phil, you reminded me fondly of my fave image athttp://www.pbase.com/limaili/image/61742521 where you commented that "the key to expressive travel photography is to make the ordinary extraordinary through incongruity and abstraction, and express human values in the process". You'd showed me the key again! But my preference is usually a much tighter crop (yes, I used the word "crop" :D). And perhaps it's also another good example of urban isolation and individualism? Thanks, Phil, as always for your reinforced teaching.
Phil Douglis13-Aug-2006 22:29
Good to hear from you, Alexeig. Yes, the layers stacked here -- I've juxtaposed foreground, middleground, and background information to express my idea.
alexeig13-Aug-2006 20:29
Nice to see a new work from you. Many layers here
Type your message and click Add Comment
It is best to login or register first but you may post as a guest.
Enter an optional name and contact email address. Name
Name Email
help private comment