GI Cut, US Military Cemetery, Omaha Beach, St. Laurent, France, 2004 photo

Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Three: Expressing human values > GI Cut, US Military Cemetery, Omaha Beach, St. Laurent, France, 2004

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29-AUG-2004

GI Cut, US Military Cemetery, Omaha Beach, St. Laurent, France, 2004

The men who tend the vast lawns of this cemetery take great pride in creating a sense of unforgettable peace and serenity. Every blade is groomed with great care and military precision, which is only fitting for a cemetery holding ten thousand World War II dead. I wanted to express that sense of perfection in this picture by placing this man out front of all of those crosses. Using a 24mm wideangle converter lens, I was able to give a feeling of thrust to the lawn mower, a spearhead, if you will, for the silent ranks of graves that range behind it. The living care for the dead with much diligence and great respect, human values that I feel come through in this image.

Canon PowerShot G5
1/160s f/4.0 at 7.2mm full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto

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Phil Douglis		29-Jul-2006 19:59
Life is the most precious thing man has, Emi. And we only get one of them. Yes, you are right, all life must end, and make room for new lives. Ultimately, life is a mixture of joy and sorrow and everything in between. More important, life comes down to each of us making life better in some way for others. That is what artists do, and photographers. And teachers. And yes, these soldiers died for that very reason. Theirs was the ultimate sacrifice. They died so that others might live, and that is part of the message of this picture. To deny life in order to avoid sorrow is futile. As human beings, all of us must accept the fact that death is a part of life. We all begin to die as soon as we are born. But that should not stop us from making the most of the time we have here on earth by living a life that provides value to others.

Guest		29-Jul-2006 17:47
I dont mean these man death is a mistake, what I mean is if life is meant to end anyway, then better never have lives in this world at all, so all the sorrow will be mininized. Emi

Phil Douglis		29-Jul-2006 05:48
Your first comment was very much in line with my thinking here, Emi. However your second comment was not. I saw this picture as a positive statement about the living. It is about respect. And that is what you seemed to feel as well, given your first comment. But you turn the picture completely around with your second comment, and I can't accept it. You say that "life is a mistake and not a good thing at all." These men did not die for a mistake, Emi. They perished as part of an effort to free occupied Europe from tyranny. That is why this memorial is there --to remember their deeds and honor their lives. And that is why this man labors on their behalf. I thought this image captured that spirit well.

Guest		29-Jul-2006 02:33
Another thought it comes from this image - life is a only a cross - a kind of suffering. No matter how perfect your life is, at the end you die. And no matter how perfect your grave is being taken care of, its all superfical to you now since you are dead. If we turn the cross a little bit around, the the "+" would turn into a "x". Life is a mistake and not really a good thing at all. Emi

Guest		29-Jul-2006 02:29
Not surprising people would love to praise heros and of course, they deserve the praise even after they died. However, how many of us will appreciate those who is not very outstanding, but actually performing their duties ( whether the duties are important or not) as the best they can? The dead people here under that graves are the past, but the mower here is still alive and very down to earth doing his duty, so that you can see the perfection here in the cementary. We should actually salute to him. Emi

Phil Douglis		24-Aug-2005 19:53
Thanks, Lori, for this heartfelt comment. I know how you feel. Visiting this cemetery was a very emotional experience, and one is always aware of the relationship between the living and the dead of which you speak. As you can see, this image has drawn many thoughtful and sorrowful responses. All I wanted to was to pay my own respects by making an image that speaks of respect.

Lori Rosen		24-Aug-2005 12:05
This one shreds me emotionally , especially now. To me it speaks to the very real fact that we must go about the business of living even in the middle of our sorrow for those precious lives lost. That should we dwell in that place then our lives too would be lost. A double tragedy.

Phil Douglis		25-Mar-2005 02:48
You have left a magnificent interpretation of this image, Benchang, and it truly underscores what I am trying to teach here with it. This gallery is devoted to the expression of human values in travel photography, and this image speaks of both diligence and respect, as both you and I have noted. I was also moved by your reference to your life during the Cultural Revolution in China, which, in effect, was all about basic human values and the negation of them. I appreciate your reference to the other image I took in this cemetery, as well. It is, as you say, a bit more subtle in both structure and expression. You are certainly correct when you noted that making meaningful pictures is not an easy task, because very often we must search to discover the human values represented within them. To make that discovery, we must be able to understand the meaning of those values within ourselves as well. Human values are not just something we pull off a shelf to make a neat picture. They form who we are as human beings, and when we use them to express ideas in our photographs, we are, as you say, affirming them.

Benchang Tang		25-Mar-2005 02:02
Hi,Phil! This is a moving picture and your interpretation helps me to unerstand more. From your picture I can see the flow and continuity of human values-- responsability, dicipline, diligence, respect of work,.... You said " military precision", and the mowner obvious uses the gridwork of the crosses as his earmarks and underneath those crosses lie his forefathers who have their causes yet to be finished. I lived and worked in the country for 10 year after I was sent there during the Cultural Revolution (I still miss the human values of the farmers there) and this picture reminds me when we transplanted rice with straw threads running across plots as earmark lines and here the lines is visible too. I read the other picture following your link and I found that is more sultle than this one. Sultlty brings experession and power and that is what your pictures set themselves apart from many others. To make a good picture is not easy, and it needs the understanding and affirmation of the valus in ourselves. The diagonal line in the picture of the crosses with the mower in the head is powerful and tells a story.

Phil Douglis		10-Jan-2005 23:21
I am always delighted when you tell me that you return to my photos many times, Zandra, because it tells me that my pictures must have something to say to you, and it also tells me how thoughtful you are as a reader of pictures. You do not make impulsive judgments. You absorb each image you critique, think about it, maybe even dream about it (hah!), and when you are ready, you leave a substantive comment such as this one. The contrast you see between the position of the living and the position of the dead is intentional. I can see how you might feel that the presence of a lawnmower in a grave yard is incongruous, but if you stop to think about it, Zandra, how else could they cut the grass? This is a military cemetery. A soldier's life is very disciplined. It based on "spit and polish" -- everything has to be perfect. In death, as well, a solider remains perfect. The grass that grows over his coffin is precisely measured, just as the polish on his boots once was precisely evaluated. Both are measured against perfection. Because there is no other standard for a soldier. Your imagination then takes a leap into the sensual arena, Zandra. You bring your own sense of hearing to bear on this image, and the roar of the mower's motor seems disturbing. You say it is disturbing the peace. Yet you like that roar in your ears because it keeps you awake and draws you into the image, doesn't it? And then you make still another leap -- you see the presence of a loud lawnmower as breaking the pattern of silence here and that, in turn, makes you aware of the sound of silence as well. The irony is that the sound of this lawnmower is actually welcomed. It is not an intrusion. It is not disrespectful, either. It is a mark of respect. The dead, of course will never hear its sound. But the living will. And the living will know that somebody cares enough to groom the grass over the bones of the dead. That, Zandra, as you point out, symbolizes respect, a very basic human value. I am glad you also thought of diligence -- persistent, hard working effort, which is also a human value. And so too, is peace of mind. Whose peace of mind are you referring to here, Zandra. Your own? The dead? Those who come to mourn them? Or all three? You close with a remarkable observation. You tell me that although this image was made among the dead, it is very much alive. And that, too, is an incongruity, isn't it? You make the ultimate point here, Zandra. Cemeteries are not for the dead. They are for the living, right? This huge cemetery honors those who died in battle, to be sure. But ultimately, a military cemetery such as this one is a place for the living to remember the dead and what they accomplished. Shortly after making this image, I made another one -- also about respect. It is in my gallery on monuments, sculpture and tombs at:http://www.pbase.com/pnd1/image/33921363 I think you will find that it makes a fitting companion to this picture.

Guest		10-Jan-2005 21:10
I have returned to this photo many times Phil. Not because i find it hard to analyze but simply because i like it. I like the energy in it, created by placing the man as you did. I can sence how he has been moving from the top of the image and down...so fast he is almost on his way out of the border. And then in the back, the dead, still and restfull. Such contrast. An Incongjurity for me as i would not expect to see this when visiting a grave yard ;-) But the man is so present with all this energy that i can almost hear him and the lawn-mower. It disturbs me in a way, the sound disturbs the peace. It is good cause it keeps me awake and it makes the image more dynamic and intresting. It also disturbs the peace as it is the only ting breaking the patterns. Good, cause that akes the pattern be more obvious. They enforce eacother. I hade a look in my dictionary...diligabce was the word i was looking for. Respect, diligance and peace of mind is what i feel when i look at this. And even though it is a photo taken at a cemetary it is very much alive.

Phil Douglis		09-Jan-2005 02:54
Thank you, Audra, for opening your mind and emotions to this image. It was indeed shot in the same cemetery where the final scene of Saving Private Ryan was filmed. It was a very emotional experience for me just to visit this vast field of the dead, let alone make photographs of it. It is always a challenge to make an image worthy of such a subject as this. And so I based it on two very important human values: diligence and respect. I previsualized this shot in my mind as I watched this man work his way through the rows of graves with his mower, and waited until he reached this very spot to make this photograph. I am glad it triggered your mind, emotions, and imagination. That is what an expressive image should do. Thanks again, Audra, for this kind comment.

Guest		08-Jan-2005 23:36
Soory, I cut off my message, I was saying that........ I think you did an excellent job with this photo. Audra

Guest		08-Jan-2005 23:34
This image brought tears to my eyes. I thought of the opening scnene from "Saving Private Ryan" in which I cried as well. I

Phil Douglis		24-Dec-2004 03:33
One of the most satisfying experiences that any photographer can have is to know that his or her images are not only being viewed, but being viewed in a way that produces a substantive thought process. Your response to this image, Mikel, shows me that my picture has triggered more than a series of surface impressions. I intended this photograph to convey the basic human value of respect. You talk here of having respect for what the sacrifices of the men and women who are buried here mean. As a European, you respond to my image with respect for the deeds of these American soldiers who liberated your continent, and you go even further to see respect in this image for the value of life as life itself. I believe that human values are every bit as important to expressive photography as abstraction and incongruity. Images that do not reflect human values usually will have difficulty expressing ideas that stimulate the mind, emotion and imagination of our viewers.

Guest		23-Dec-2004 22:20
This past summer I whent to Holland by car and on the way back I stoped in the cementery of the "Ardenes battle" in Lienchestine a massive 1000 more burrials of man who died for a cause, After I also went too the German cementery with three times more victims, what perhaps crashed my attentin is that many of the Germans were still unidentified and several more were in a common grave, many of them did not even have 18 years old but Hitler pushed them to fight without them even realy knowing what it was all about I think. I remember that Robert Capa was in the first line of the assault and said he was never as sceard as that in his life only one picture was saved of his work there. I can believe it. I cant forget the living feeleng of most of this soldiers realy had, of one side or other, the people they leaved behind and wat cold have been of these if not diyng in the battle field for the madness of a phiew man. These liberated us from a tirane and the others though the tirane was something good for their country, I'm glad that my part has won the war but a life is a life and I am glad to see how they are respected. Yes, the GI is the spearhead of all these souls for us not to forguet... will we be capable to not forgeting?

Guest		03-Dec-2004 19:06
The man is devoted to his task with care and seriousness. You transmitted it very well.

Phil Douglis		30-Nov-2004 21:21
You are right, Filip -- it's the wideangle positioning of the subject in the lower left hand corner that gives this image its energy and much of its meaning. I brought the top edge of my frame down so that it almost touches the crosses, but not quite. That left the picture with a lot of grass at the bottom, so I cropped from the bottom to bring that diagonal cutting line that slices through the picture down to the lower left hand corner.

Guest		22-Nov-2004 14:32
Just excellent. Your use of wide angle makes the shot special and the repetitive pattern along with the great depth make the image dynamic. The human element is the icing on the cake, I think. You've caught him at the right moment, just at the edge of the frame. Minor nit pick being that the greens seem to be a tad oversaturated, but overall this is an excellent shot. Well done!

Phil Douglis		06-Nov-2004 22:51
You are right, Nut. Respect is an essential human value. And I think I've been able to convey that here.

nut		06-Nov-2004 22:17
Respect.

Phil Douglis		02-Nov-2004 17:59
Thanks, Larry, for this comment. Not only does my title refer to the closely-cropped grass and the haircut of the fellow doing the mowing here, but it also is a reference to the calling of those who lie beneath these crosses. They were soldiers, Larry. GI's. All of them once had the same government-issue haircut that this grass is now getting.

Guest		02-Nov-2004 16:31
The perspective created by rows of crosses always create a powerful image. Nicely done. It took me a minute to catch the word play in your title...the closely-cropped "GI Cut" of the man with the lawn mower and the closely-cropped grass. Clever!

Phil Douglis		03-Oct-2004 15:31
Thanks, Tim, for your observant comment. I put the man with the lawnmower in that very spot because I wanted him out front, showing the ranks of crosses behind him that he cares about those who lie beneath them.

Tim O'Reilly		03-Oct-2004 15:08
Most people would have automatically chosen to place the man with the lawnmower on the other side of the picture, in the direction where he is going, with the grass 'to mow' in front of him. Basic, standard, and usually good, photography. But by placing him where you placed him, you've shown real insight. This makes truly a great image.

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