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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Five: Using the frame to define ideas > Art and photography, Sonoma, California, 2008
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13-JUN-2007

Art and photography, Sonoma, California, 2008

While visiting the chapel of the historic Mission San Francisco Solano in Sonoma, I noticed my friend and fellow pbase photographer Tim May shooting from within a window niche. I used the glowing white walls of this niche to simultaneously abstract and frame him – showing only the lens of his camera and the arm supporting it. This frame within a frame transforms the arm and hand of the photographer into an abstract symbol of an artist at work. I reinforce this concept by leading the viewer to that niche with the gradually darkening 19th century painted wall decorations.

Leica V-Lux 1
1/15s f/3.6 at 68.8mm iso100 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time13-Jun-2007 10:47:21
MakeLeica
ModelV-LUX 1
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length68.8 mm
Exposure Time1/15 sec
Aperturef/3.6
ISO Equivalent100
Exposure Bias-0.33
White Balance
Metering Modemulti spot (3)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Programprogram (2)
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis03-Jul-2007 16:59
Thanks, Tim, for commenting on this image I made of you shooting in this chapel. You make a good point -- an expressive photographer must always become immersed in the moment, feeling it, and caring about it. Yet at the same time, we must now and then retreat to a niche and become an observer rather than a participant. You are very much the observer here. If you were any further from the scene you are shooting, you would fall out of that window.
Tim May02-Jul-2007 22:40
I feel that this is a metaphor for the artist both in the scene and looking in from the side. I feel that in order to be able to take a good picture you have to immerse yourself in where you are - have a hype sensitivity to how you feel, and what you see that catches that feeling. But, foremost you must feel, become part of it. Yet, we must also step aside, sit in a niche, so to speak, to give us some distance to decide.
Phil Douglis19-Jun-2007 23:29
And what about that classic photographer's elbow? I like the sharp point!
Carol E Sandgren19-Jun-2007 22:03
I'd recognize that camera lens anywhere!
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