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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty Three: Stirring emotions through atmosphere and mood. > Bartender, Scottsdale, Arizona, 2005
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25-MAY-2005

Bartender, Scottsdale, Arizona, 2005

I abstracted this hotel bartender down to a silhouette and isolated him against a glowing alcove holding translucent ranks of bottles. A curving ceiling decoration twists overhead, repeating the pulse of the pattern in the bottles in the alcove. Evening revelry is hours away -- the only sound is silence. The somber colors and abstracted design of this image evoke a mood that I hope will produce an emotional response within the viewer. This photograph reminds me of the paintings of Edward Hopper (1882-1967). He often depicted isolated figures in bleak scenes from ordinary urban life. This is an image of a place dedicated to pleasure, yet it speaks here only of void.

Canon PowerShot G6
1/800s f/4.0 at 23.0mm hide exif
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Date/Time25-May-2005 22:46:28
MakeCanon
ModelCanon PowerShot G6
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length23 mm
Exposure Time1/800 sec
Aperturef/4
ISO Equivalent
Exposure Bias
White Balance (-1)
Metering Modemulti spot (3)
JPEG Quality (6)
Exposure Program
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis19-Jul-2006 05:33
Thanks, Jean-Claude, and welcome to my galleries. Hopper's work is defined for me by isolation. And that was what I felt as I made this image. You are right about the long comments, which are somewhat unique on pbase. This is a teaching site, probably the only one of its kind on pbase. Many of those who have commented here are, or have been, among my on-line students. I am delighted when my images are able to stir enough thought to create a substantive dialog such as this one. As you can see, I try to respond to every comment, and in the process broaden the lesson the image is intended to teach.
Jean-Claude Liehn19-Jul-2006 04:33
Before I read your one comment I immediately thought about Hopper. This is striking. Also, your picture generates long comments...this is not so common on Pbase.
Phil Douglis18-May-2006 19:54
It is ironic that the designers of this bar intend its design to symbolize all that is "hip and now" while you see it as a glowing void -- an invitation to nowhere. We read ourselves into images, Jenene. In many ways, we are what we photograph and photograph what we are. Same goes for reading the meaning in the photographs of others. Thanks for adding this view.
JSWaters18-May-2006 07:32
Dedicated to pleasure, yet bleak indeed. The glowing void above the bottles in connection with the curving lighted ceiling detail, say nothing to me other than, 'Get the hell out of here, there's only loneliness and self absorption waiting for you here'
Phil Douglis28-Apr-2006 20:05
I think Ruthie speaks here from the view of a person who knows addictive suffering at first hand. Her own demon is weight, not alcohol. Yet she enters the image, and lives in it as an addict would. On the other hand, you look at my photograph of this bar as social commentary. You are dead-on. This hotel is at the epicenter of Phoenix night life, and this bar is its focal point. Well expressed, Niall -- and thank you. It is humbling to see one of my images draw such disparate responses. Photography is certainly a medium of provocative expression, particularly when we are able to take advantage of potential multiplicity of meaning.
type28-Apr-2006 16:18
Hmm, perhaps Hopper updated with a twist of postmodern cool. Ruth's comment is an interesting take but I probably wouldn't have seen it without being prompted. To me it exudes the louche ease and swagger of a liquor-fuelled night out in an uptown bar. Great order and pattern in the chairs, bottles, counter and spiral as well. The silhouette anonymises the bartender: he's the guy who doesn't want to know your name, but will make sympathetic noises and pour you another one, no questions asked; the best friend you've never met.
Phil Douglis24-Jun-2005 20:41
Amazingly, Marisa, I read your comment here just a day after I returned from Europe, where I was consciously shooting new images that would be build around the very "illusions, contradictions, and paradoxes" you speak of in terms of this image. Only a few moments before reading it, I also read your long comment relating to polarities and contrasts on my Yangon flower shop image athttp://www.pbase.com/image/40174227 . In a few days, I will be posting a new gallery here in my cyberbook that will feature new images built these important factors. Your flower shop comment is one of the most important contributions ever made to my cyberbook, and your comment on this image seems to me to be in perfect synch with it. (No surprise there!) What more can I say but thank you! You have given me new eyes to see this image with, and a new frontal lobe as well, if and when I am able to put your salient ideas into practice.
Phil Douglis24-Jun-2005 20:39
Ana-- I was stunned by your suggestion of looking at this image upside down to see an opposite meaning. You make me wonder what I would see if I took the time to look at ALL of my images upside down! Perhaps I should, and perhaps we all should look at our own work that way too! What do you think of that idea? Thanks so much for this thought.
Guest 18-Jun-2005 14:20
What first caught my attention of this picture was the intense but soft contrast between light and darkness. And how the 'light' here is a fake.
We have this pattern of light in the ceiling that looks like -and is- a way of leading people to the lighting bar, to that window that looks like the sun: warm, lighting and full of life place.. a life that every bottle there 'holds' in its inside, the 'spirit' of the man.
this picture speaks to me about illusions, contradictions and paradoxes: the light is actually the darkness, the 'happy life' is a the emptiness of the self, the 'sun' is the hell. The redish tones enhace that hellish feeling that I perceived. The bartender looks like a shadow, a kind of ghost.. a place where the humans looking for the 'easy' way finished like invisible souls.
Ana Carloto O'Shea11-Jun-2005 16:58
First there is the ceiling, then there is the ceiling and after that, there is the ceiling once again! For me that almost railway like structure in the ceiling makes the image work so well. The way it is set, like a path leading us to the bartender, it makes an inviting image, that doesn't stir any negative emotions at all. I imediately want to step into the photo and take a seat at the bar. The lights are all very warm and soothing so it's always a calm and relaxing feeling that I get from this one.
Now, if I rotate 180º and the image is set upside down, then all this changes. The image is no longer inviting, it's quite scary actually... The man looks like he's trapped in there upside down and my first thought is to follow the "railway" structure and help him out... But on the floor the structure looks like it's almost on fire, red hot... I am afraid to go there, the shadows are oppressive and on the floor there are all kinds of things that look like traps, maybe it's because there is no ceiling now... It's like a movie scene!
So, 180º and a world of difference. But either way it stirs the imagination
No, Phil, I didn't drink anything :-)) I don't know why, but this is one of those images that were crying ouy to been seen upside down... I guess I've never told you that sometimes I like to do that, but now you know.
Phil Douglis29-May-2005 18:23
Thanks, Ruth, Anna, Mikel, and Tim, for your comments on this image. They were all waiting here for me this morning, so I will answer your observations collectively in this response

Ruth: This is an emotional image. That's the function of mood -- to trigger the emotions of the viewer. You have interpreted this image in a deeply personal way, seeing the ceiling decoration as a symbol for the spiral of addiction. The illuminated bottles and blackened man, the closed door and empty chairs all become symbols of despair, illness and decline. Don't apologize for your impressions, Ruth. It is my task to trigger your imagination and emotions.You understand these feelings, and you relate to them, making this image your own.

Thanks to you, Anna, for mentioning that hypothetical customer. That would have made a somewhat less lonely image, but still a poignant one. And you are right - someone sitting down would have merged into the background instead of being a cleanly defined silhouette.

Mikel -- You are right. I did think of the mood in Zandra's images from that lonely European hotel bar as I made this photograph. You mention emotion as well. The image itself is emotionless. But its mood is designed to trigger the emotions of the viewer.

Tim -- your interpretation of this image as a "spiritual" experience is fascinating. But you also caught the other side -- you see the potential dangers of alcoholism lurking in this photography.

I thank all of you for these comments. I simply tried to express a mood here that will set an emotional tone for each of you, encouraging each of you to come up with your own interpretation. That is what expressive photography does as an art form. I am glad that it seems to be working as I had anticipated.
Tim May29-May-2005 16:19
I compare this image to your "spiritual" images in temples and churches - there is in alcohol a sense of the spiritual, alcohol is after all called "spirits" - the other consciousness - here the pattern of lights takes me to the "alter" and the glow around the as yet empty chairs speaks of the spreading of the "spirits" - Yet the bleakness of the scene also echos the dangers of this "spirit-filled" path.
Guest 29-May-2005 11:36
This photo makes me think about the series of photos from Zandra and the bar of her hotel. In this case, I see in the cieling this kind of path that takes you, like if it were invitin you to the bar, the incongruence though layes majorly, from my point of view that there is no one but the barman.
On the other side, we have the barman, abstracted by the backlight as you say, you just see a figure no emotions or probably a rather sad emotion since he is in the dark and no human expressivness comes up un this figure. While the bottles are like a still life that though waiting for the clients to consume they are there quiet with no use whatsoever, standing void of any use.
Anna Yu29-May-2005 05:04
A strong image with a message. I would have waited until a customer came and used him as a subject instead of the bartender. Problem is, how to get his silhouette so nicely is he's sitting down.
ruthemily29-May-2005 05:01
i find this incredibly emotional, Phil. to me it speaks of addiction (here alcoholism, but i relate it to other) and the long spiral down into the depths it...which looks so inviting but only leads to darkness, despair, loneliness, isolation, rejection, yet more problems. it looks so inviting, but he is totally blackened and not at all illuminated. the door is closed and there is no easy way out. the chairs are empty and tucked in. people have given up on him and will only return when he helps himself. he has to choose to climb back up the stairs which, while lit, don't look half as inviting as staying with the devil he knows...the really brightly lit bottles. sorry to add such a personal and...random comment, but that's what i see.
Phil Douglis29-May-2005 04:45
Thanks, Kal, for this comment. I was first drawn to the scene by the contrasting rhythms in the ceiling decoration and bottles, and the translucent lighting at the bar. The bartender did not show up until a bit later. When he arrived, everything changed. My previous images instantly became exercises in form for the sake of form. The human values here -- loneliness, precision, luxury -- did not really become apparent until the human form took its place within this frame. Mood and atmosphere lead to emotional response, Kal -- and that was what I found myself working on here.
Kal Khogali29-May-2005 03:55
It is amazing how you can view an image and instantly connect with it, yet not understand why. Here, the explanation came from you, the repeating patern of the bottles and the curved light bring that someting special to this photograph. Without them it would have been a bar scene with a mood, but with them it becomes something more emotional. Great image Phil, and I can see the connection with Hopper, who also liked bar scenes..
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