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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty: Controlling perspective with the wideangle lens > Street Phones, Indian Quarter, Yangon, Myanmar, 2005
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Street Phones, Indian Quarter, Yangon, Myanmar, 2005

I saw no pay phones in Yangon, the capital city of Myanmar. Very few cell phones, either. Instead, people can cheaply make or receive calls at street side tables such as this one on a crowded street in the Indian Quarter. To tell this story, I brought my 24mm wideangle lens within inches of the three soiled telephones, creating a foreground anchor layer that tells the story of hard and long use. I build my middle ground layer out of the paper and pen this woman uses to record her business activity and the tea she drinks to keep her going. In the background layer is the proprietor herself, passing the time between calls by studying. She brings her hand to her mouth nervously, no doubt wondering what I am doing there with my camera. A garbage dumpster fills half the image. She does not acknowledge its existence. Nor do her customers. It is life on the street in Old Rangoon, and the wideangle tells its story well.


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Phil Douglis07-May-2005 23:22
Thanks, Ruthie, for bringing another interpretation to this image. It is not the one I had mind, but certainly valid. This is image does express the fact that we can pick up a phone and reach other people from anywhere in the world. Yet that idea is no longer of primary concern, because with the coming of the ubiquitous cell phone, calling anyone from anywhere is now commonplace. I made this image to express the essence of a culture, Ruthie -- it tells us how life in old Rangoon is still quite different than in other places. This woman studies from a well worn book in the shadow of a dumpster. The telephones, which really are the subject of this picture, are soiled with the dirt from the hundreds of hands who have used them. Hard working hands, hands that can't take time for washing. Yet to this woman, none of this is unusual. It is simply how things go here. The phones are only inches from my wideangle lens, and almost as large in size as the woman who sits just behind them. As such, they demand our attention, and as you say, you almost want to reach out, pick one up, and make a call to someone from the cacophonous streets of Yangon.
ruthemily07-May-2005 18:41
i've come back to this image several times over the past few weeks, Phil. i've never been sure what to say about it. it really jumps out at me though. i think the exaggeration of the phones is brilliant. it's almost like a marketing technique that you are giving her! it makes me want to pick one up and call a friend, way more so than if they were not so pronounced. you really make this photo about the phones, not the girl or indeed that massively obtrusive truck. this is about communication, about being able to reach out to other people no matter where you are in the world.
Phil Douglis09-Apr-2005 05:58
Thanks, San Antonio, for your question. I only use digicams, for the very reason you mention. I will gladly sacrifice a bit of image quality (which really makes very little difference when images are shot primarily for display on the web) for more mobility and invisibility as a photographer. With the G6, I can shoot from waist level with its flip out LCD viewfinder, something no DSLR has. When you shoot from the waist you do not mask your face with the camera and are much less intrusive and intimidating. The G6 has raised digicam quality levels considerably, and it takes a 24mm wideangle converter lens, which I used to make this image.

You are right. DSLR users look like professionals to some people, even if they are not. And it causes much different reactions. I look much less threatening with G6 at my belt. Some people do not even realize I am taking their picture.

I also use a Pansonic Lumix FZ-20 in tandem with the G6. It zooms all the way out to 432mm with its image stabilized Leica lens. Although it does not have a flip out viewfinder, I can hold it at a distance from my face and compose in its LCD. I use it primarily for telephoto work.
Guest 09-Apr-2005 02:35
Mr. Douglis,

I noticed you used the Canon Powershot G6 (I have the old G1 and now a Digital Rebel) for the photos in this gallery. Was that to bring less attention to yourself as opposed if you were shooting with an SLR? I notice sometimes when I do street photography I get two reactions from most people: they act over expressively and "pose" for the camera or they shy away.

Sam Antonio
http://www.pbase.com/bircher
http://www.picturetrail.com/bircher
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