Shy child, Zhujiajiao, China, 2004 by Phil Douglis

Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Three: Expressing human values > Shy child, Zhujiajiao, China, 2004

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13-JUN-2004

Shy child, Zhujiajiao, China, 2004

A Zhujiajiao family invited me into their courtyard to make photographs, but this young child would have none of it. Shy or perhaps just tired, she seeks comfort from her mother. All of these feelings are human values – we’ve all had them. I was able to stress the child’s feelings by comparing her response to her mother’s. I also make the picture more abstract by partially obscuring the child, which brings the viewers own imagination into play.

Canon PowerShot G5
1/160s f/4.0 at 20.7mm hide exif

Full EXIF Info
Date/Time	13-Jun-2004 09:59:59
Make	Canon
Model	PowerShot G5
Flash Used	No
Focal Length	20.7 mm
Exposure Time	1/160 sec
Aperture	f/4
ISO Equivalent
Exposure Bias
White Balance	(-1)
Metering Mode	multi spot (3)
JPEG Quality	(6)
Exposure Program
Focus Distance

other sizes: small medium large original auto

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Phil Douglis		29-Jul-2006 19:51
Thanks, Emi, for your observation. But I beg to differ. My daughter Emmy, when she was about this age, used to close her eyes when she did not want to be looked at. She would even put her hands over her face, somehow thinking that if she did that, she would disappear. That was what I was thinking of as I made this image.

Guest		29-Jul-2006 17:31
Hm... children never close their eyes, they are too curious to close their eyes. If they are shy, they will turn their face away, or maybe even cry. But then they will try to peek and see if the stranger( in this case you Phil) was still in there or not. Well, just my little observation. :) Emi

Phil Douglis		29-Jul-2006 05:51
You miss my point here, Emi. Children often close their eyes when they are shy, and do not want to be seen. And that is what I am trying to say here. The last thing I wanted to do was to show the kid with his eyes open. He thinks he is hiding.

Guest		29-Jul-2006 02:40
This image to me has the same problem of misleading the viewers as the " under the baskets". Even we see whatever we want to see, but at least the photographer should try to help? What I mean is this image, same as the "under the baskets" one, one of the main subjects in the pictures( here is the shy kid) seems like closed his/her eyes to us visually, so how can we get the idea that he/she was being shy? Emi

Phil Douglis		26-Mar-2005 05:25
You took the words right out of her mouth, Benchang.

Benchang Tang		25-Mar-2005 02:46
The mother is saying to you, my daughter is nice to you and she is only shy, and if you come here tommorow she will smile to you. I can hear it from her face. Thank you this talking picture!

Phil Douglis		12-Jan-2005 20:22
Once again, we seem to be thinking in parallel paths, Zandra, but each with our own approach to abstraction. Thus we shoot the same subject, but say two entirely different things. Thanks for adding two more human values to my image -- love and protection are worthy companions to shyness and comfort. And you are right -- these values are, as my pbase friend Marek is always pointing out, primal. Who we turn out to be, often depends on the kind of love and protection we received as infants.

Guest		12-Jan-2005 13:05
I have made a similar picture like this, trying to express the same human values you did here. I obscured the mother instead, rather then the child, and in a different way. It is my “in a mothers arms” that I have posted in my children’s gallery What is more comforting then a mothers love and care. A mother does not need to do much; she only needs to be there, as this image shows. These types of photos touches the hart Phil and it shows one of the very basic human values, one we need and know to recognise even as infants. It also shows values that we are still looking for and we will be looking for it for the rest of our life, in one way or the other…love, protection and comfort.

Phil Douglis		30-Dec-2004 04:48
Protection and calmness are indeed other human values expressed within this image, Mikel. Thanks for suggesting them.

Guest		29-Dec-2004 12:35
The truth is that we all seek for protection in our lifes by our work, our personal relationships, etc. I think that if I wold be a child beeng also smaller then a grown up person and you Phil wold come too me with a camera (an unknown gigant person wiht an unknown object in his hand) I wold seek for protection too and undoubtly that wold be the arms of my mohter too. And on the other hand, this protection also gives calmness to the child so it is alot easier to end up sleepeng untop of her without any worries.

Phil Douglis		14-Dec-2004 21:23
Thanks, Anna, for making this point. Enjoy your kids while you can, because they will soon become you!

Anna Yu		14-Dec-2004 17:55
Children are so natural. They soak up the attitudes of the grownups around them and soon they are not natural anymore.

Guest		03-Dec-2004 19:39
The child seeks refuge in her mother just waiting the intruders go and things get back to normal, that is their exclusive relation.

nut		06-Nov-2004 23:06
Exactly, they are human values.

Phil Douglis		06-Nov-2004 22:54
To be shy, sleepy, warm, and safe. Are these not essential human values as well?

nut		06-Nov-2004 22:27
Shy, sleepy and to be with mama is the best; warmness and safeness.

Phil Douglis		11-Aug-2004 05:27
I've never used a flash in any of my photos for that reason. I much prefer accepting the presence of noise or grain by using a higher ISO if need be, than having my images appear harsh or unnatural, or even worse, being rude to my subjects by firing lights into their faces. A fast lens, a steady hand, placing gradual pressure on the shutter button instead of pushing it, and using such handy supports as a ledge, railing, wall, post, or pillar, allow me to use shutter speeds as slow as 1/15th or 1/4th of a second if need be, without blurring the picture due to camera shake. And if it should be slightly blurred, it's better to have a soft natural looking image, than a sharp but harshly unnatural picture.

oochappan		11-Aug-2004 00:26
I do agree about the flash.

Phil Douglis		10-Aug-2004 01:38
Thanks, Henk, for your observations on this photo. I had taken several different expressions of both this child and this mother, but selected this one because of its ambiguity. I like to make photos that ask questions of my viewers. I like the expressions in your photo as well, but I think they would have worked with more subtlety if you could have made it without using flash, which can often be harsh and unnatural.

oochappan		10-Aug-2004 01:30
As you described it becomes more clear but on first view you doubt about the child intention , is it sleeping or ... ?, the proud smile of the woman is clear, the relation between them is shelter. May I propose a stronger relation between two persons where the father is proud while his child has so strong will that it expresses already to look foe a shelter somewhere else .... in this case the mother : A Proud Father

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