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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Seven: Making time count > Tidal Chase, St. Malo, France, 2004
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30-AUG-2004

Tidal Chase, St. Malo, France, 2004

As I watched the tide run out from high on the ramparts of the walled city of St. Malo, I noticed three beachcombers bearing buckets heading out to reap the bounty of the sea. I was focusing on them when two children came dashing into the bottom of my frame, chasing each other in another direction. I pressed the shutter release and 1/1000th of a second later I had snatched this moment out of time and space and preserved it for you. This image is rich in juxtapositions – the beachcombers stride away from us with stately precision, while the kids sprint across the frame in frantic haste. Yet both groups are connected by the rippling layer of shallow sea water that still coats the sand. Although neither group seems conscious of the other, they will be forever linked in this eye-blink in time

Canon PowerShot G5
1/1250s f/5.0 at 28.8mm hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time30-Aug-2004 17:54:03
MakeCanon
ModelPowerShot G5
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length28.8 mm
Exposure Time1/1250 sec
Aperturef/5
ISO Equivalent
Exposure Bias
White Balance (-1)
Metering Modemulti spot (3)
JPEG Quality (6)
Exposure Programshutter priority (2)
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis25-Jul-2006 18:06
What a wonderful observation, Jenene! The contrast of the sprinting children vs the plodding adults is striking, and is emblematic of the stages of life itself. I find it also interesting that while at least one adult leaves a long trial of footprints behind him, the children leave none. Which says to me that kids don't really concern themselves with where they have been. They live in the moment.
JSWaters25-Jul-2006 16:00
The running children chase back and forth across the steady footprints left by the adult group. I like to see this as relating to the growth and development in childhood, zigging and zagging through their world, testing every boundary. The adults plod steadily along, providing the constant compass for their small charges.
Jenene
Phil Douglis17-Apr-2006 07:19
Wonderful metaphor, Shirley. Thanks.
Shirley Wang06-Apr-2006 13:31
If I image it as musical notes, I think of the two hands playing in a piano, with the left giving an assuring steady tempo and the right playing an exciting melody.
Phil Douglis04-Mar-2006 06:24
Thanks, Xin, for this thoughtful analysis. You are the first to note generational and occupational differences in this image, symbolizing divergent life patterns and goals in society itself.
Sheena Xin Liu04-Mar-2006 06:10
Two girls and 3 adults compose rich juxtapositions in this image. The kids were running and playing merrily, while the adults were obligated to work. They were also heading for different directions which implies the life pattern and goal in two generations are totally different. Truly Great!
Phil Douglis29-Mar-2005 18:20
Thanks for leaving this comment, Guest. You seem to feel the tune as well. The more I look at this picture now, the more the figures seem to represent musical notes to me. Ah, the power of suggestion at work!
Phil Douglis29-Mar-2005 18:16
Rhythm it is. Elements that repeat themselves as they flow through a picture, just as in a piece of music.
Incidentally, a "guest" has also weighed in with his or her own comment on the musical aspect of this picture. You can read it below.
Guest 29-Mar-2005 15:58
Andante. I really didn't thought about the skaters on ice arena, but I most probably felt it subconciously. Just look at the rippled space which is only space since there is no counterpoint to tell me what it is, and the the three and the two are so in sync in each.
Benchang Tang 29-Mar-2005 08:47
I have come back here and found your interpretation to my queation and have thought one more time and one word came to me, "Rhythm", and yes, there it is.
Phil Douglis29-Mar-2005 05:00
I think I know why. At first glance, this tidal image looks a bit like ice, and we think of ice skaters, who usually skate to music. Another possibility is the fact that this is a chase scene, and we are accustomed to watching such scenes in the movies to musical accompaniment. Or perhaps music is always present in Benchang's subconscious mind, and this image simply brings it to the forefront?
Benchang Tang 29-Mar-2005 03:30
I can hear music from this picture but I don't know why.
Phil Douglis31-Dec-2004 21:09
Thanks, Anna, for noticing the role of movement and texture in this image. It seems that everyone manages to see something else going on in this image, which is simply an eyeblink in time.
Anna Yu31-Dec-2004 16:12
Beautiful texture in the sand, the figures moving in different directions give a feeling of movement.
Phil Douglis08-Dec-2004 02:46
Glad you noticed the difference between reflection and shadow, Selvin. The third variable is the shape of the people themselves. Each seems to lead a life independent of each other.
Selvin Chance07-Dec-2004 10:35
Phil,
I am intrigued by the shadows cast by the players. The reflections in the water ceate one dimension but the shadows cast by the sun are almost like small platforms on which the players seem to be floating on the water.
Cheers.
Phil Douglis01-Nov-2004 17:28
Thanks, Jim, for pointing out a new aspect of this picture --the speed of the tide. I am now even more pleased that I was able to include those children racing across the bottom of the picture.
Jim Chiesa01-Nov-2004 10:20
I would even add that this image is somewhat representative of the speed the tide rises up when it returns. Many people have been trapped by its speed due to the flatness of the area. Well caught, Phil, I like it very much !
Phil Douglis27-Oct-2004 17:37
No stunts, Zebra. As I said in my explanation, I had intended to shoot just those three beachcombers, on their way to the treasures of the tide. And then the kids came into my frame and everything changed. But as you say, sometimes good things take a bit longer to happen. Like your bird and bear.
Guest 27-Oct-2004 16:11
The three men are egregiously same and the two children too.Phil,did you decide to shot until something else appear?
It is often happened that something interested me but the scene through my egregious seems to lack others.Then I wait.At most time,I failed.This is one of the few success: http://www.pbase.com/sqlguo/image/35106940 I had waited for twenty minutes before the little bird carefully steped close to the sleeping bear.Phil,have you any stunts?
Phil Douglis19-Sep-2004 00:35
I knew you would pick up on those footprints, Tim -- I have always felt that you have a unique ability to see things that most of us overlook, and you capitalize on your highly developed sense of observation as a photographer.
Tim May19-Sep-2004 00:24
I love the balance in this one, the composition and the faint footprints that go from the runners to the hunters.
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