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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Three: Expressing human values > Recitation, Buddhist Nunnery, Sagaing, Myanmar, 2005
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Recitation, Buddhist Nunnery, Sagaing, Myanmar, 2005

Much of a nun's life in spent in study. The atmosphere in this nunnery was serene, the work intense. The Principal Nun was very gracious and allowed complete photographic access. The young nuns brought great passion to their recitations, which they chanted in unison along with their teacher. I saw great passion in this moment, and passion is a human value. The knowledge the teacher brings to them, on the other hand is revered, and both knowledge and reverence are also human values. I composed this image to intensify the contrast between the passionate student and knowledgeable teacher by creating a diagonal power line from corner to corner, putting the students head at upper right and the teacher’s at lower left. The flow of the nun’s robe, and her folded hands draws the eye down to the teacher, linking passion with knowledge and reverence.


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Phil Douglis12-Aug-2005 05:53
Thanks, Lance, for your comment. I'll pass on the focus issue -- I've pretty much explained my reasoning on that already. As for taking pictures of people at prayer in the Far East, I have had no problems at all. The people I photograph are usually praying in public, and anything done in public view is, I feel, acceptable photographic content. If anyone gestures to me otherwise, I will always respect that, and walk away. However these prayers, or lessons, are being recited in private. In such cases as this, permission and cooperation are essential. My wife and I were on a private tour of this nunnery. Our guide introduced us to the head nun at the beginning of our visit. I explained my purposes and intentions as a photographer to my guide, and she translated them for the head nun. The head nun was delighted that I wanted to photograph in such a serious and comprehensive manner, and gave me her enthusiastic support. From that point on, the nuns became used to my presence, and paid no attention to me. I never interrupted their lessons or prayers to set up pictures. I don't do that. I simply observed and quietly, but persistently, photographed them. Hope this helps, Lance.
Guest 12-Aug-2005 05:21
Hi Phil,

very interesting shot here. I have not come accross Buddhist nuns in pink before. The pink gives a feeling of softness and female tenderness yet her chanting/teaching seems most passionate, so we have a nice contrast here.

I'm with Jun Wu on the issue of the main point of focus isn't in the foreground, yet the nun is out of focus. This made me pause for a while and I saw another aspect... the younger of the two nuns is the most animated and seems to be the most passionate. The older nun is chanting, but in a more sedate fashion. This fits with the Buddhist model, but it did throw me a little.

I do have a question though...

Although from the UK I live and work in the Far East and am very cautious of taking shots of folks at prayer. I tend to use a sneeky approach, but do you have any tips about being more open about it? How did you get permission to take images such as the one above?

I'd appreciate any tips you can share with me.

Lance
Phil Douglis25-Apr-2005 19:49
And I like the way Anna gets to the core of it. I look for light first myself. Without the meaning conveyed by light, expression is muted or mute. Glad you, a photographer who uses professional gear, shares a love of the Program mode with me. It frees the eyes to see, the brain to think, the body to feel. Those who insist on making photography more difficult by consuming themselves with precise exposure and focusing calculations and losing the moment in the process, will only reap what they sow. Thanks, Anna, for this comment.
Anna Yu25-Apr-2005 19:22
What I like best is the way the light falls on the pink cloth. Maybe I'm missing the point but I always see the light first and this light is very good. I'm also glad to read that you use Program mode too, some people make it sound as if anyone using less that Manual all the time aren't real photographers (like themselves). This picture has conveys the human value of passion, definately.
Phil Douglis12-Mar-2005 20:05
Celia, it all comes down to how I choose to express emotion and how my viewers choose to interpret it. Since emotional content in expressive photographs is felt, each viewer will respond differently. I saw this emotion as passion. You saw it as pain. The line between pain and passion is a fine one. I made you work, and think, and wonder. And that is all I can really ask from any image.

I consider my caption as also essential. It provides context for a viewer, and gives them a framework in which to interpret the emotions in the image. Yet it still leaves room for the viewer to come to his or her own conclusions. As you know, I never post a picture and expect it to function on its own -- it must work in partnership with my words. Yet my words are only structure -- a framework for function. It's the image that is the catalyst to thought, and the viewer who provides those thoughts.

I always enjoy it when people get different meaning from my emotional images such as this one is -- even after reading the caption. I also want to make my viewers work hard. To shoot the obvious emotions is easy. And superficial. To shoot the more complex, variable, and challenging range of emotion is what I enjoy doing the most. It is a mark of a picture's depth and breadth when this happens. It is impossible to expect every viewer to react to the emotion expressed in an image in the same way. The only way that is going to happen is if I limited my emotional content to only the obvious and superficial. I prefer that my images express emotion in more complex and variable ways. This to me, it is a mark of an image's strength. This is just such an image. The emotion is so heartfelt here that it can be seen in a number of different ways. Which is all to the good as far as I am concerned.

Thanks for your comment, Celia, and also for your views on the relationship between teacher and student. You have brought an entirely different meaning to the image than I intended, which is always wonderful. My intentions for this image are generally stated in the caption. If you see them as more, less, or differently, that is your own imagination at work. And since it is my job as an expressive photographer to stimulate your wonderful imagination, I'll gladly take it anyway you want to see it, Celia.
Cecilia Lim12-Mar-2005 18:58
I have to admit that when I first saw this image, I thought, "What the hell is going on here?" I had a really difficult time reading into this image Phil. For me this image just wouldn't work without the context of your caption. And even after I had read it, I still found it difficult to see how the image you shot was relevant to your caption. I found the expression and action on the reciting nun's face extremely difficult to decipher - she looked like she was either angry and upset at the nun infront, or she was in anguish or extremely worried, and because of this confusing expression, I completely misunderstood the ideas you were trying to express about knowledge & reverence, and how they are linked to perserverence & passion. What I did get however was the immense difference between the calm of the teacher and her seemingly despondent student.

To me, this image is more about the different stages of enlightenment through the ways of Buddhism. The teacher has obviously achieved a higher sense of enlightenment because she exudes all qualities of patience, calm and collectedness, while her student who is yet to achieve that, shows the opposite of all those qualities. And the fact that you focused clearly on the teacher implies that she is really the subject of your image, and her student in soft-focus is to offer context. I had to work very hard to get to the meaning of your intentions this time. Is this what you also had intended people to read? Judging by the response here, I'm the only one who didn't quite get this picture.
Phil Douglis09-Mar-2005 18:40
You have added still another layer of knowledge, if specialized, to this image, Clara. Thank you.
Guest 09-Mar-2005 14:55
Beautiful composition that catches the two interdependent aspects of the Dharma path, devotion and knowledge.
Phil Douglis28-Feb-2005 06:51
Alister, I always shoot in "Program" mode, which frees my mind from making exposure decisions and allows it to concentrate on the ideas I am trying to express. The only time I go to aperture priority mode or shutter priority mode or manual exposure mode is when the situation calls for it. I never use the camera's fully automatic mode -- it blocks my use of the spot meter and won't let me disable flash or choose my white balance or ISO setting. The camera's program mode, on the other hand, allows me to do all of these things, yet still chooses both aperture and shutter speed. In low light such as this, it usually chooses the optimum aperture setting, which is generally quite large. Meaning lots of selective focusing options. Thanks for the question -- yes, I am always thinking about presentation, which I assume means expressing ideas to my viewers. I am a communicator first. The technical side of photography is always secondary. Form always follows function.
alibenn28-Feb-2005 04:25
It amazes me that when you travel, you think so much about presentation....is the decision to shoot at a larger aperture to throw a studying nun out of sharp focus conscious, or is it a by-product of shooting in an automatic mode in low light, where the camera would select a large aperture anyway..?

Whichever, the effect is profound.
Phil Douglis27-Feb-2005 20:38
Thanks, Junwu, for this very perceptive question. The main subject is not really out of focus. The nun is very well defined, but not quite as sharply focused as the teacher. My reason for doing this is to place a bit more emphasis on the teacher as the source of knowledge. The teacher is also in charge here, the nun is not. The teacher is teaching, the nun is learning. The nun's passion burns brightly here, and we can see it and feel it, even though she is not as sharply defined as the teacher. There is so much more of the nun in the image than there is of the teacher, that the slight difference in focal plane emphasis does not affect our ability to appreciate the depth of the nun's passionate recitation here. Hope this helps answer your excellent question.
Phil Douglis27-Feb-2005 20:33
Thanks, Mo. This image is, indeed, a portrait of passion. It is also shows us how human values speak volumes.
Jun Wu27-Feb-2005 18:54
While the diagonals in this picture are undoubtedly used to great effect, I'm nevertheless slightly puzzled by your decision to throw the main subject out of focus. What did you have in mind, Phil?
monique jansen27-Feb-2005 08:58
Teaching and learning as a passion, we should all be so lucky. The diagonals really work for you, the color, the contrast between the nuns in light and shadow. Excellent portrait.
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