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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty Eight: Using symbols and metaphors to express meaning > Bearing life, Mission Beach, San Diego, California, 2010
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10-SEP-2010

Bearing life, Mission Beach, San Diego, California, 2010

I was shooting the sunset as a child came towards me, bearing a garland of kelp taken from the sea. Later, when I studied the image on my computer, I was stunned to see that the sunset is illuminating the kelp, just as it is also reflected in the wet sand amidst the seaweed in the foreground. The child is small, the setting sun very large. He emerges from the sea, just as mankind itself once did. The glowing garland he bears could symbolize the gift of life itself.

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Phil Douglis09-Feb-2011 23:32
Thanks, Jen -- so glad you see the story of life itself in this image. You are right -- life is about evolution, growth, and death, but the cycle always repeats. It was a glorious moment to shoot, and upon examining the details later, it became even more exciting.
Jennifer Zhou08-Feb-2011 17:23
Something about this image touches me... I see LIFE...

We might be creatures from the sea billions and billions of years ago. This very same sun watches us evolve and grow, life is short for a human but life itself never ends... It is too good to be alive, and it is too good to be able to see this glorious mement through your eyes, thank you so much Phil!
Phil Douglis24-Oct-2010 19:44
Glad you like this image, Jenene. I see it the same way you do. That "fiery ring of light" being carried by a child into the "future," as indicated by the glowing sand before him, was exactly what I meant when I said in my caption "the glowing garland he bears could symbolize the gift of life itself."
JSWaters24-Oct-2010 18:56
'And a child shall lead them' He is emerging from the water with the past (setting sun) at his back, carrying the fiery ring of life toward the future (the glow in the sand). What a compelling image.
Jenene
Phil Douglis04-Oct-2010 22:02
Thank you, Iris. You are right -- this image was made possible by three converging elements: my timing of the setting sun itself, the fact that a child happened to be playing in the water at just that moment, and the most amazing aspect of all -- his carrying that handful of kelp at just the right angle to reflect the color of the sun.
Iris Maybloom (irislm)04-Oct-2010 21:48
My mouth dropped open in awe when I saw this one. It doesn't get much better than this.
Phil Douglis01-Oct-2010 19:50
This was indeed a glorious moment, Tim -- for the child, and certainly for me as a photographer. As I made the image, I instinctively sensed its symbolic power, but did not realize the extent of it until I was able to study the detail of the glowing kelp on the large screen of my iPad when I uploaded my images.
Tim May01-Oct-2010 16:57
Wow!!! This is a "framer" what a glorious moment.
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