Craftsman, DumaZulu, South Africa by Phil Douglis

Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Three: Expressing human values > Craftsman, DumaZulu, South Africa


05-DEC-2002

Craftsman, DumaZulu, South Africa

I asked this Zulu craftsman, through a gesture and a smile, if he would sit for a portrait. He was indifferent to my request, but voiced no objection. I placed my camera on the ground, flipped the rotating LCD viewfinder up so I could look down into it, and went to work. He seemed pleasantly puzzled by the process, and yielded a portrait that spoke of both patience and puzzlement, values understood by humans everywhere.

Canon PowerShot G2
1/100s f/4.0 at 10.7mm hide exif

Full EXIF Info
Date/Time	05-Dec-2002 16:24:12
Make	Canon
Model	PowerShot G2
Flash Used	No
Focal Length	10.7 mm
Exposure Time	1/100 sec
Aperture	f/4
ISO Equivalent
Exposure Bias
White Balance	(-1)
Metering Mode	matrix (5)
JPEG Quality	(6)
Exposure Program
Focus Distance	4.250 m

other sizes: small medium large original auto

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Phil Douglis		12-Jan-2005 02:49
Thank you, Mikel for coming up with more human values here -- distraction, confusion, and shyness. I saw puzzlement as I made this image, which fits well with the human values you have identified here.

Guest		11-Jan-2005 22:30
Too begin with, the ventage point here gives it a point as I say. :) Certanly the man is like abstracted of his own work, something has him distracted, the photo? perhaps, though he is also looking to an other point like waiting for some instructions or some sign that tells him how he has to behave, there comes the confusion. He perhaps is not that use that they make him photos and even less from the ground vantage point so he has to be wondering what you are doing in that moment, and that leaves him without concentration for is own labour. Though I am intreeged to know to who'm or what his looking at or is it a reaction of shiness?

Phil Douglis		05-Dec-2004 01:14
What you are seeing here, Clara is the role of confrontation in photographic communication. In facing me, the subject also faces you. You can choose to vicariously relate to him through me, or you can confront him yourself. The choice is yours.

Guest		04-Dec-2004 18:00
Contrary the previous one, you created this shot. You are visible through him, then. And part of what we see is what he thinks of your world.

Guest		03-Dec-2004 09:14
great shot....love your angle..

Phil Douglis		30-Nov-2004 23:28
You have such a beautiful way of adding meaning to my pictures, Nut. I will never look at this image again without thinking of "the meaning of gentleman." He is truly a gentle soul, isn't he?

nut		24-Nov-2004 11:00
I feel his gentle from the way he split his legs, tender and relax sitting, his patient from the way he hold and place his hand on something between his legs (coconut?) and his wonder from position of his hand. And I won't forget his question inside his eyes. I like this photo, he remind me the meaning of gentleman.

Phil Douglis		11-Oct-2004 17:52
Thanks, Rodney, for commenting on this image. Cameras are tools. It is not a matter of "outperforming," but rather a matter of applying the right tool to the right opportunity to get the right picture. That's why I now carry three compact advanced digicams with me in the field. Each has a different purpose as a tool. And they offer me far more flexibility than a single DSLR with a bag full of lenses would offer for the same cost, and at less weight. You are right -- without the flip out LCD, this image would have been very, very hard to make, and probably impossible. I would have had to stretch out on the ground with my chin in the dirt to get this shot with a DSLR, and would have called such attention to myself that everyone around me, including this Zulu, would have been laughing at me. Using my flip out LCD, I was hardly noticed. By the way, your term "p/s digitals" implies that these digicams are primarily made for casual snapshooters. While many are, there is also an entire of class of "advanced compact digital cameras" out there that offer features essential for even professionals. Many pros now carry them in addition to their DSLRs. All three of my own cameras -- the seven megapixel Canon G6 with its flip out LCD and 24mm wideangle converter, and the five megapixel Leica Digilux 2 and Panasonic Lumix FZ-20, with their Leica Summicron and Elmarit IS lenses, are in that category. And so is the entire new class of 8 megapixel compacts that came on the market earlier this year. DLSRs are no longer the only game in town for serious photographers.

Guest		11-Oct-2004 14:46
This is a great example of how some p/s digitals, with the flip LCD, really can outperform an DSLR!

Phil Douglis		28-Nov-2003 01:48
Your witty summary of this photograph, Marek, reinforces the very point I was trying to make with this picture. You say that this photo shows how little difference there is between us as human beings. And I tried to make a picture based on two common human values -- patience and puzzlement -- understood by humans everywhere. All of us have been where this Zulu craftsman is at this moment, and all of us can emphathize with him.

Guest		27-Nov-2003 22:36
I love your people gallery the most, and this image is my favourite. What I like about it the most, is that you could put the top half of this man is a suit and sit him in front of a conference table, or in cafe, and he would not look out of place with his expression and pose. This photo shows how little difference there is between us, human beings.

Phil Douglis		11-Oct-2003 02:25
Vanessa: Yes, the camera is really on the ground. I used the Canon G2 to make this picture. (I now use the Canon G5). Both cameras feature flip-out, rotating LCD viewfinder displays, allowing me to shoot with the camera on the ground, a floor, a table, or at my waist. I find these flip-out rotating displays so useful that I will not upgrade to a digital SLR, because they do not offer rotating LCD viewfinder displays.

Vanessa		08-Oct-2003 21:45
Phil, Do you really place your camera on the ground? Is it mounted on anything? How do I achieve this? By the way, nice photo! V

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