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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Thirty Nine: Juxtaposition – compare and contrast for meaning > Watching for customers, Erg Chebbi, Sahara Desert, Morocco, 2006
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18-DEC-2006

Watching for customers, Erg Chebbi, Sahara Desert, Morocco, 2006

I was up early to catch the first light on the dunes surrounding our remote desert camp, and noticed a man lurking in the golden sand. He proved to be a self-appointed “dune guide” who, for a small tip, helps tourists climb to the top of the steep dunes to watch the sunrise. He waits here in the bitter cold for customers. By juxtaposing him against tents full of still sleeping tourists I tell the story of entrepreneurship. The fact that he seems half buried in the dunes symbolizes the difficulty of earning a livelihood here – not every tourist wants to climb to the top of the dunes, and many of those that do would rather make the journey by themselves.

Leica V-Lux 1
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Phil Douglis29-Jan-2008 20:38
I'm glad you like the colors, Sofia -- they help make this image what it is. But even more so, I am delighted you find meaning here -- the story of desert people struggling to build careers as guides for the tourists who sleep in those tents.
Guest 29-Jan-2008 19:09
Great image, just its colours are splendid, and the meaning too. V
Phil Douglis24-Jun-2007 18:46
Thanks, Mo -- we get colors like this by getting out of bed before the sun rises. This delicate play of color and light was only there for a few moments, just after sunrise. The appearance of the Moroccan dune guide was a bonus -- he brought the image to life for me. Yet even without him, it would have been a moment of luminous beauty.
monique jansen24-Jun-2007 10:02
I came back to this one because I was looking at your California images. The colors in this one are truly spectacular. The dark blue, moody colors of the tents, sloping and seemingly fragile contrast beautifully with the vast expanse of golden sand and the small, lonely figure in the background.
Phil Douglis20-Jun-2007 06:47
You are right, Shirley. While the American tourists sleep in their tents, the locals are already out in the bitter cold desert getting ready to serve their needs.
Shirley Wang20-Jun-2007 04:56
The contrast between the man's exposure and the many shelters adds greatly to the inconguity.
Phil Douglis25-Jan-2007 23:42
I am fascinated by your color-swapping concept, Tim. Incongruities can be subtle as well as self-evident. You give us a new way to look at this image.Thanks.
Tim May25-Jan-2007 17:30
I am intrigued by the incongruities created by color here. The waves aren't blue, they are orange. The blue of the tent is evocative of the blue sky which we don't see and the blue is in the bottom of the image not in the top - and the sand takes on the color of the sun marrying the earth to the solar system - all this color swapping makes me stop and linger longer at this image.
Phil Douglis21-Jan-2007 03:18
I am glad you see this dune guide in the context I have placed him, Celia. He is, as you say, out there in the cold (and it was bitter cold in the Sahara at this hour in December) waiting for first picks on any sleepy tourists who might soon emerge. He is part of the environment, both in terms of placement and color, as you point out. Thanks too for noting the colors of blue and orange here. The blue foreground draws us in to the image, and then the orangish pink sand pulls us out to the guide and beyond.
Cecilia Lim20-Jan-2007 23:31
Wow! What strikes me about this image is how out of place man's presence is in this vast sea of sand. The blue pastic-y looking tents poking out geometrically from the ground are such an uncomfortable contrast against the soft undulating warm-coloured dunes. (Yet the blue and the orange work well together in this image because they are complimentary colours) Dressed in natural fibres and more earthy colours, the dune guide - which you've place in midground - appears to be the only link between these visitors and the dunes behind him because he looks like he has somewhat adapted to this environment. But he stands there, eyes fixed on these tents like a predator waiting for his prey to leave the safety of their homes . This man is infact displaying the very characteristics of survival in the wild. After all, this is the unforgiving Sahara Desert, and this is his fight to stay alive here.
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