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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Forty-Nine: Creating an echo with rhythm and pattern > Leaders and followers, Scottsdale Civic Plaza, Scottsdale, Arizona, 2010
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12-MAY-2010

Leaders and followers, Scottsdale Civic Plaza, Scottsdale, Arizona, 2010

The four men in this image are on their way to a meeting – the man who heads the procession holds a two-way radio in his hand as three others dutifully follow his lead. I built this image around the repeating rhythms of the backlighted silhouetted figures as they relate to the tree trunk that divides the group in half.

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Phil Douglis17-May-2010 18:14
If I added that fact that all four of these men are firemen on the way to a meeting, you need no longer be suspicious. As for their views, the tree merely separates the followers from the leaders. They may well all share the same ideas, and that is probably the reason for the meeting -- to make sure that they do.
Iris Maybloom (irislm)17-May-2010 01:03
Being Arizona, it makes me wonder what kind of a meeting they're going to. The fact that the figures are silhouetted and seemingly don't want their identities known makes me suspicious about the nature of the meeting. However, the tree, bisecting the group, creates distance between the pairs. Perhaps they are not unified in their views which will make for a very interesting, if not contentious, meeting.
Phil Douglis16-May-2010 18:40
They are walking shadows, Claudia -- and thanks for pointing out that the second man seems to be talking while the others are listening to his chatter. And thanks, Tim, for taking a close look at the heads here -- there is a relationship between the last fellow who wears a bit of sun on his bald head and the fellow with a cap. The tension, as you say, is crackling between the limb and the third man in line. There is also a message communicated by the juxtaposition between the followers and the leader. The man at the head of the line is so tall that his head vanishes into the greenery behind the wall. Nobody can top him. He is also the guy with the communications tool in hand.
Tim May16-May-2010 16:50
I notice two things here - one is the interplay between the hatted man in silhouette and the light on the bald headed man. and the tension in the space between the limb and the head of the third man in line.
BleuEvanescence16-May-2010 13:52
According to my monitor, i also see those men as walking shadows, and only one is talking while everybody else is totally quiet, in acceptance of whatever will be.
This is very interesting...
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