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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Five: Using the frame to define ideas > General Store, McCarthy, Alaska, 2002
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16-JUL-2002

General Store, McCarthy, Alaska, 2002

McCarthy, Alaska, is an unconventional place. So I used unconventional framing to express the character of this rough and rugged place, truly America's last frontier. We are trained to frame things whole. But when appropriate, why not express an idea with fragmented framing? I feature the dawn light striking the Moose antlers that adorn the facade of McCarthy's general store, but deliberately fragment its sign. McCarthy itself is a fragment of the past -- one of Alaska's hidden gems. The infamous McCarthy Road ends at the Kennecott River. You have to hike the final mile into town, crossing two footbridges. The place once hosted carousing copper miners from nearby Kennecott. With the mines long closed, McCarthy manages to survive virtually unchanged, a charming ghost town that refuses to die.

Canon PowerShot G2
1/200s f/4.0 at 21.0mm full exif

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Phil Douglis07-Mar-2006 03:25
Tonya and Melissa -- thanks for your comments. One of the reasons why I make these images is to get your imaginations working. I leave it up to you to make your own work of art out of mine.
Melissa Peterson 07-Mar-2006 02:32
Thsi picture is very abstract it leaves the a million questions in your mind.
Tonya Walters 07-Mar-2006 02:19
I like this picture. It leaves a question in your mind. I'm sorry i have not the chance of meeting you yet
Phil Douglis27-Feb-2005 04:29
You know my style by now, Clara. I like to involve the imagination of my viewer. Speculation? Imagination? Absolutely!
Guest 08-Feb-2005 19:35
Without your description text is a very abstract image, that leaves much to speculation.
It is visibly a store sign, but a very particular one. Great colors.
Phil Douglis12-Nov-2004 03:08
Thanks, Larry, for this comment. You are right --it is a matter of less is more. I abstract this image with my frame to involve the viewer's imagination to a greater degree than it would have been if I had spelled everything out in this sign. Light also plays a role here, adding dimension through the shadow of the antlers.
Guest 12-Nov-2004 03:04
I haven't thought much about the "less is more" concept in photography, but I can see how it works in this image. If you had shown the full wording of the sign, it would have been just another "archival" photograph and wouldn't stimulate the viewer to participate in the image by adding their input to complete the missing letters. I hope I can take this lesson and apply it in some of my own work.
Phil Douglis25-Oct-2004 16:03
Hi, Zebra,

I shot this picture from off to one side because the shadow, which is the point of the picture, worked best from that angle. From a frontal view, the shadow disappeared behind the antlers. Another reason for a side angle is that it gives a greater sense of depth, or dimensionality, to the picture. A frontal vantage point will often tend to flatten an image. As for getting up early, yes -- it comes with the territory. Of course in the Alaskan summer, the sun sets at ten o clock at night and rises at two in the morning, so getting up "early" is out of the question. But the sun is still quite low in the sky at six or seven in the morning, so I was able to get this kind of a shadow. Generally, the best light for photography in terms of dimensionality and color is just before and after sunrise and sunset.

I am glad you looked at this picture as a black and white. It was very weak, wasn't it? This picture helps establish a "sense of place" for this small Alaskan town by stressing the shadow of the antlers against that wonderful rusty red colored sign. I also show only some of the words, abstracting the sign instead of describing it. In black and white, the picture lacks character, substance, and feeling.
Guest 25-Oct-2004 14:55
Phil,why did you shot it from one side,not the front face?Because of the shadow?Do you often get up early for photographing?
I opened it in photoshop and turn it into black&white.The importance of the shadow was obvious.
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