photo sharing and upload picture albums photo forums search pictures popular photos photography help login
Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Sixteen: Story-telling street photography > Lunchtime, Dublin, Ireland, 2004
previous | next
26-AUG-2004

Lunchtime, Dublin, Ireland, 2004

Streets invariably have signs. This set of steps leading down to a Dublin street certainly had one. I always am looking for stories based on incongruities involving people and signs, and I found one here. These Dubliners apparently do not read signs. And if they did, they show little interest in complying. Three of the four are eating lunch. (The other looks at his photos. Maybe he’s a tourist, so we’ll excuse him.) I designed this image around the rhythmic flow of the ornate railing and the well-worn steps they use instead of chairs. I was particularly interested in the way they used their hands and held their legs. Not only are they breaking local rules by sitting here, but these 21st century people are also eating their lunch on 18th century steps. I have layered one incongruity upon another, and these folks never looked up.

Canon PowerShot G5
1/200s f/4.0 at 15.8mm full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
share
Guest 25-Sep-2004 19:33
In Italy, I have seen very mature adults puffing away under "No Smoking" signs! (Oh - and the signs were in Italian). So disregard for rules is not unique to teenagers, or the Irish!
Phil Douglis19-Sep-2004 02:53
Tim, both you and Vanessa picked up on those chopsticks, but for different reasons. She liked the way they repeated the sweep of the angle of the stair railing and you find them to be a cultural incongruity. I never thought about a cultural incongruity here until you mentioned it. Chopsticks have become a commonplace utensil these days in Western countries. Your concept of "mixing cultures" depends upon a "chopstick context." No, that's not a new Chinese food - it's just my way of saying that I no longer find eating with chopsticks to be out of the ordinary. You can eat with them in virtually every shopping mall in America. And I would guess that this Dubliner on the steps probably regards his chopsticks as very Irish as well.
Phil Douglis19-Sep-2004 02:47
Thanks, Tami, for this observation. I was not thinking about teenage disregard for authority when I made this shot. (The last time I had a teenager living in my house was twenty years ago!)
As a travel photographer, I was thinking at the moment about the attitudes of Irishmen and and Irishwomen towards their history, because there they were, casually scarfing down lunch while sitting on steps that were made hundreds of years ago. This picture is about those layers of history, and of course the futility of that signage.
Tim May19-Sep-2004 00:42
Another incongruity for me the guy in the upper corner is eating with chopsticks, not only are you mixing time but also cultures.
Tami18-Sep-2004 13:19
To me this seems to be general rule breaking prevalent among younger people. There is a disregard for rules that may seem "stupid" to them. "Why can't we do this, we aren't hurting anybody" is usually their attitude.

Can you tell I have a teenager in the house? LOL

Tami
Phil Douglis17-Sep-2004 22:47
Triangle, schmiangle, Vanessa. Glad you like the form of this picture -- I wouldn't have it any other way. But more importantly, what does this picture say to you?
Phli
Vanessa 17-Sep-2004 22:30
Ok, just a quick observation - I like the way the guy's chopsticks run parallel to the handrail of the staircase. The triangle the subjects form is also pleasing to the eye.
Type your message and click Add Comment
It is best to login or register first but you may post as a guest.
Enter an optional name and contact email address. Name
Name Email
help private comment