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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Three: Expressing human values > Ventriloquists dummy, Miami, Arizona, 2011
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14-APR-2011

Ventriloquists dummy, Miami, Arizona, 2011

I found this dummy in an antique store window. Its head-down position expresses fatigue or sadness, both human values. By using my spot meter, I am able to darken the shadows surrounding it, and make it seem abandoned, still another human value.

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Phil Douglis20-May-2018 20:32
Eloquently said, Merri. Human values are reflected in everything we see, and they seem particularly poignant in such a setting as this. An antique store is place of lost dreams, hopes and ideas. It is where old objects go to die (without an owner or a use), and await rebirth, if and when it ever comes. Your focus on the linkage of two human values here, abandonment and betrayal, completely changes the meaning of this image for me by taking it to a tragic place.
Merri 19-May-2018 07:38
An inanimate object devoid of life, but the way it is presented in this photograph just seems so very sad. The closed eyes, pinched brow, and grimace. Your mention of where you found it completely cements the sadness for me. The dummy was abandoned by the person who gave it life in the first place. Abandonment is also betrayal and this is a very important human value. It is fundamentally frightening to be betrayed by those who love us and this little doll is a keen representation of that.
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