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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Five: Using the frame to define ideas > Salt farm, Walvis Bay, Namibia, 2002
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14-DEC-2002

Salt farm, Walvis Bay, Namibia, 2002

Namibia harvests salt from the sea, forming huge piles that resemble snow covered mountain ranges. I photographed this salt pile through a porthole in a wall surrounding the processing area. This provided a circular frame, which abstracts and isolates this pile of salt, making it seem larger than it really is. By using this framing device to abstract this image, I've made a picture that can ask questions and demand answers from its viewers.

Canon PowerShot G2
1/640s f/7.1 at 21.0mm full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis07-Mar-2006 03:27
Vanessa and Michelle -- glad this image is working as it should.
Vanessa Thomas 07-Mar-2006 02:30
This is a fantastic way to make shadows and scenery contrast.
Michelle Johnson 07-Mar-2006 02:22
What a way to catch attention it keeps the looker staring.
Phil Douglis27-Sep-2005 03:29
It was not the hole in the wall itself that drew me to this picture, Rod. It was the way light and shadow gave that hole a dimensional presence. The mountain of salt behind it was simply a matter of good fortune. When I shoot, I look for light, shadowing, and color first, and the subject matter itself often follows.
Guest 26-Sep-2005 19:07
I've always wanted to shoot such photos (where I could use an opening like this as framing). Really excellent. What I especially like is you managed to expose the entire scene so the wall shows its true very very deep red/burgandy (I'm bad with names of colors--typical male) coloring due to inside's shadow of the wall surrounding the opening, instead of a black wall.
Ramma 16-Sep-2005 21:17
Stunning ! so simple and yet so meaningful
Phil Douglis27-Feb-2005 04:29
Strange is another word for incongruity, isn't it? If you agree, we are on the same page.
Guest 08-Feb-2005 19:41
Really, a very strange image. One does not know if this is some desert or some construction/mining place. Intriguing landscape. More as we contemplate it from a wall-hole, like looking into the moon.
Guest 17-Jun-2004 00:31
I find this one incredibly intriguing: simple, manmade geometry that frames the organic shapes and lines of the salt, all in just four colors. This one really caught my eye and drew it right in to the subject.
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