Barren branches, Harshaw, Arizona, 2009 by Phil Douglis

Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Five: Using the frame to define ideas > Barren branches, Harshaw, Arizona, 2009

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11-APR-2009

Barren branches, Harshaw, Arizona, 2009

I use my frame to abstract a barren tree, dividing it in half and leaving the trunk out of the image. The framing forces the imagination of the viewer to see the trunk and the other half of the tree in their mind’s eye. It also increases the energy of the branches, which seem to be reaching for help. By eliminating the central trunk, I’ve made the branches somehow fly on their own.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1
1/640s f/6.3 at 84.0mm iso100 hide exif

Full EXIF Info
Date/Time	11-Apr-2009 09:52:47
Make	Panasonic
Model	DMC-G1
Flash Used	No
Focal Length	84 mm
Exposure Time	1/640 sec
Aperture	f/6.3
ISO Equivalent	100
Exposure Bias	-0.66
White Balance
Metering Mode	multi spot (3)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Program	program (2)
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis		16-Aug-2009 20:49
Abstraction is an expressive tool -- as we take things out of an image by just shifting the frame slightly, what remains often becomes alive and even can become something else. That's what I tried to do here, Celia. I'm delighted you see it as I intended it to be seen.

Cecilia Lim		16-Aug-2009 18:09
By eliminating the trunk, the branches are not visually tied down - they appear much more alive and animated, especially when their silvery branches jump out from the darkness behind. They remind me of lightning flying across a night sky!

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