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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty Two: Black and white travel photography – making less into more > Pot Carriers at Rest, Mandalay, Myanmar, 2005
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Pot Carriers at Rest, Mandalay, Myanmar, 2005

In Myanmar, it is the women who seem to bear the greatest physical burdens. These women have been carrying a basket full of huge pots on their heads for several miles. We saw them stop to rest, and I made this image of them as they took a well-earned breather.

I posted this image in color as the closing picture of a sequence on pot carrying in a travel article on my Myanmar trip. You can see it at: http://www.worldisround.com/articles/139134/photo88.html

In color, the image speaks of reality. The pots are stressed – the tan color of pottery dominates the image. You can even see the streaks of Thanaka on their faces – a yellow makeup paste that Burmese women wear to soften the skin and block the sun. This makes the image quite specific in terms of both task and place.

In black and white, however, we get more depth of feeling into the image. That’s because the picture is less real and more abstract. The Thanaka and the brown pottery take second billing to the weary expressions, and the exhausted hand gesture of the woman in the plaid shirt. In the color shot, her red sarong was a startling distraction, but there was no way to take it out. In black and white, her sarong is becomes a neutral gray.

Each version tells a different story. We choose the story we want to tell in light of our own intentions.


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Phil Douglis12-Dec-2007 04:48
Thanks, Vera, for letting me know your preference for the color version, and why. You are neither right nor wrong here -- it all depends on what you want the image to express. As I said in commentary above, each version tells a different story. We choose the story we want to tell in light of our own intentions. You were drawn to the color of the makeup and what it represents, so you prefer the color version, which does that very well. I prefer the black and white version because of the depth of feeling that the black and white abstraction provides here. I made other images that feature the bizarre yellow makeup. I made this image to speak of exhaustion and surrender, feelings which to me, at least, are intensified by black and white. I am glad you are learning some valuable lessons about black and white vs. color imaging in this gallery, Vera.
Guest 12-Dec-2007 02:27
Phil,
Usually I prefer the BW version, but it is different for me this time. I love the make up on the face in the color version as it helped to differentiate these ladies from others who have similar features.
Vera
Phil Douglis24-Jan-2006 03:56
Thanks, Mia, for adding a personal dimension to this image. Your comment raises another important point. We not only can put ourselves into our own images. We can also put ourselves into the images of others. You brought a personal context to bear on this photograph. The excruciating pain of carrying heavy buckets as a child made it real to you in a way that it can't be to others. A photograph can trigger memories and feelings that may have been repressed for years. You might have actually felt a twinge of pain in your own arms when you looked at this image. As an expressive photographer, it is always useful to remember that people project their own contexts into our pictures, contexts that can kindle all kinds of memories or feelings. Thank you for telling us how your own context affected your response to this image, Mia.
Mia 24-Jan-2006 03:43
Thanks for your comment Phil. I think many of your American friends can also identify somewhat to that picture, especially those who grew up on farms 40 years ago or children in third world countries who work in mines or who must carry heavy pails of clean water home for long distances from the well every day. As a child, I had to carry very heavy buckets of water or milk, one with each arm, for some distance (about 1 km) and I remember the excruciating pain in my arms during what seemed to be such a long period of time (an eternity) and that, day after day. Complaints were not tolerated. I learned to work with pain. It was my chore. Adults and teenagers had their own chores - but children carried water/milk or bags of coal/vegetables almost as heavy as they were, sometimes falling and getting the consequences .... The women on your picture carry the clay containers on their heads. I was told by African friends that it does not feel too heavy if you wear it properly with the piece of cloth between the head and the pot(s) which is used as a buffer, but there is a limit to the weight someone can carry. And you need to rest once in a while, which feels so good... like when you can finally put the buckets of milk on the ground, once at destination (or to cheat and take a rest for a few seconds on the way there).
Phil Douglis24-Jan-2006 01:38
Thanks for commenting on this photograph, Mia. In its blandness lies its message. This is an ordinary picture of ordinary people, yet it speaks of a reality that is hard for many of us to comprehend. I like your word complicity -- they are in this together, and share the burdens equally. I have no idea what it must feel like to do physical work such as this. You indicate that you do. If you can tell me why and how you can identify with these women, Mia, you could shed more light on this subject and this photograph for us.
Mia 20-Jan-2006 18:51
Had I seen this photograph in a magazine, I am not sure I would have taken the trouble to read the comment under it. By itself, without the text, it is rather bland. But your text activated my imagination. I would describe this picture in two words: complicity and survival. The quiet closeness/complicity between the two women (relatives?) may speak more of necessity or survival, yet companionship lessens the burden as well.
I saw your colour picture, but I prefer this B & W; it allows us to concentrate more on the facial expressions and body language. It is also more universal and less specific in terms of task and place. I can almost identify to it, having gone through a similar experience at some point in my life.
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