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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Fifty One: Using diagonals for guidance, energy, and meaning > Spirit, Lady Bird Lake, Austin, Texas, 2009
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01-JUN-2009

Spirit, Lady Bird Lake, Austin, Texas, 2009

A graffiti artist has decorated one of the diagonal arches that support a bridge over Lady Bird Lake that joins the Columbia River as it runs through the center of Austin. I photographed the color artwork from a boat as it passed below the bridge. Using a long 400mm telephoto lens, I juxtapose two of the bridge’s supporting arches, building my image around their diagonal planes, which are created by my angle of view and tight framing. That frame uses the diagonal thrusts to embrace what appears to be a goddess, enhancing the power of its presence in the process.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1
1/60s f/5.6 at 200.0mm iso400 full exif

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Phil Douglis16-Aug-2009 21:15
You are right, Celia. Graffiti is often a protest against the stifling uniformity of urban architecture and institutional design. In this case, the flowers, colors, and feminine form seem to rise from the waters of the lake to protest the power of urban confinement, symbolized here by the repeating diagonals.
Cecilia Lim16-Aug-2009 19:47
I am astounded to see such delicacy and creativity existing within the walls of these industrialized mega-structures. Your message here seems to be that the spirit of man will find a way to exist, despite being increasingly confined to our growing but calculated urban suffocation.
Phil Douglis12-Jun-2009 01:17
She is the Goddess of Ambivalence, Tim. One day she troubles these waters, the next day she soothes them. She is whatever we may want her to be. Thanks.
Tim May11-Jun-2009 17:04
I find myself thinking about the bridge as metaphor and I am not yet sure what the goddess is about. Is she there supporting us as we cross troubled waters, or is she the troubling the waters?
Phil Douglis08-Jun-2009 21:19
Thanks, Rose. The goddess could play the role of a "Siren" here -- one of those figures from Greek mythology who lured unwary sailors onto the rocks. (In this case, the base of a bridge.) She is framed not not only within the image itself, but also within two of the bridge's arches, and those strong diagonals, thanks to the compression from my 400mm (equivalent) lens, do indeed strengthen her presence here.
sunlightpix08-Jun-2009 04:27
Great! The artist chose this spot so others will see their work and your vantage point highlights the bold colors. Your strong diagonal framing gives this goddess even more power.
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