Two worlds, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 2006 photo

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29-SEP-2006

Two worlds, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 2006

This male mule deer came right up to our van in Yellowstone’s Dunhaven pass to stare us down. I shot this through an open door, building the image around the symbolism of the white line marking the side of the road. The white line creates a diagonal boundary separating man from nature. We stand on our side, a world of asphalt. The deer stands its ground on nature’s green earth, just inches across that line.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50
1/125s f/4.0 at 20.7mm iso100 hide exif

Full EXIF Info
Date/Time	29-Sep-2006 07:53:43
Make	Panasonic
Model	DMC-FZ50
Flash Used	No
Focal Length	20.7 mm
Exposure Time	1/125 sec
Aperture	f/4
ISO Equivalent	100
Exposure Bias	-0.33
White Balance
Metering Mode	multi spot (3)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Program	program (2)
Focus Distance

other sizes: small medium large original auto

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Phil Douglis		21-Jan-2008 19:15
He is daring you to leave the asphalt world behind and join him in nature, Vera. And that is exactly what I intended this picture to say.

Guest		21-Jan-2008 16:40
It is almost as if the mule deer is speaking to me..."come run away, feel the grass under feet. Jump off the road and leave the rat race behind.

Phil Douglis		06-Feb-2007 19:39
Yes, you make sense, Zandra -- you see this image as a metaphor for boundaries, and you go on to discuss the nature of class predjudices. You see the mule deer as a symbol for all who are hemmed in, "kept in their place," and looked down upon by others. In a sense this is what man has done to the natural world. We have paved it over, relegating the creatures who once roamed freely to a world that is alien to all they have known. This mule deer seems to have come to a point where it seems to be questioning the boundaries that we have imposed on it. Thanks, Zandra, as always, for taking this image to another level of meaning altogether.

Guest		06-Feb-2007 14:35
we all have our own place in this universe...the mule belongs in the nature and man belongs in the materialistic world which we our self have created. It is almost has if there is an unseen fence by the side of the road...we both know not to cross the line. Un unsad rule. If we were to translate this in to human terms, this division could easily symbolise the crossline between different classes in society...upper class, working class and lower class. etc..even if we don not want them to exist and we sometime say that there are no such borders...in reality they are as clear as illustraded in this image. Upper class does not soialize with the working class and the workig class know not to cross the line...at the same time, the defient look in the mules eyes show the defience of a working class man/woman looking in to the world of the upper class...as if saying...who gives you the right to keep me out of your world. I am here even if you like it or not. I have value and meaning and without me...you would not be...without me...YOU would have nothing...because you are living off of me, at my expance...it is you who are intrucing in to my world...just as we are intrucing more and more in ot nature and leave less and less land to the wild... hm...does that make sence or am i just rambleing again...

Phil Douglis		10-Jan-2007 20:18
Glad you agree, Jenene. The white line is severe and divisive. Such severity implies separation and defiance.

JSWaters		10-Jan-2007 19:39
I'm inclined to stand on the side of defiance in this one. Nature vs man is often compelling, with one side frequently dominating the other. Here, you offer us a choice, symbolized by the dividing white line disappearing out of the frame. Who will win out here, man or wildernss? Or will there be a way to reach an amiable compromise? Jenene

Phil Douglis		14-Nov-2006 01:24
You see indecisiveness. I see defiance. We each read the image differently, yet still can get a lot from it.

Guest		13-Nov-2006 08:09
I love this one and well said. He also seems almost unsure whether he should proceed closer.

Phil Douglis		29-Oct-2006 19:02
Good point, Tim. There is a sense of defiance in attitude of the deer. It is as if it has drawn a "line in the sand" -- telling the world of man that it must go no further.

Tim May		29-Oct-2006 17:57
I find this image to be very compelling - it is almost as if Nature is staring us down, daring us to build yet another road across its world.

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