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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Forty-Eight: Telling stories with pictures > Communications, St. Barts, French West Indies, 2011
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01-JAN-2011

Communications, St. Barts, French West Indies, 2011

The world’s money seemed to converge on tiny St. Barts in the Caribbean to celebrate the arrival of 2011. Dozens of huge yachts were anchored in the town’s marina, each of them bearing massive satellite communications gear. I photographed the scene with a long lens, compressing the yachts into a single entity under a soaring cumulus cloud. It tells the story of wealth, and its attendant perks.

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Phil Douglis26-Jan-2011 17:47
And that was exactly the incongruity I was trying to express with this image, Carol. The cost, complexity and scale of the communications gear (and the vast size of the yachts as well) is staggering, while the ultimate object of visiting this remote destination is presumably to "get away from it all." It is a scene full of irony, and I tried my best to get that point across here. Thanks for confirming it.
Carol E Sandgren25-Jan-2011 21:21
I totally agree with Rose's comment here. To "get away from it all" has a very different meaning these days especially to those who can well afford to come to exclusive destinations on huge yachts such as this. To me, it's comically incongruous as we realize that this means bringing along all of the communications devices when they get away to keep connected to the "outside world" from which they are getting away!!
Phil Douglis22-Jan-2011 19:52
Stuff, indeed. I have never seen so much "stuff" in such a small place. These ships are nothing but huge toys for very wealthy people, and St. Barts on New Year's Day appeared to the place to show your stuff off to other people who have the same kind of stuff.
sunlightpix21-Jan-2011 21:20
It seems like people would go to a tiny island to get away from it all, but then they bring all their stuff with them.
Phil Douglis15-Jan-2011 00:00
Thanks, Celia, for this comment. The days of carefree sailing are gone. Not only are those who choose to sail increasingly dependent on technology, but just imagine what the cost and upkeep must be on these behemoths. Only the wealthiest people in the world can afford such playthings, and most of them seemed to converge on St. Barts on New Years Day.
Cecilia Lim14-Jan-2011 23:00
Sailing often symbolizes the desire to be free and independent, yet it is very incongruous to see how tied and dependent we are to technology and the safety of what we leave behind.
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