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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Three: Expressing human values > Bike Rally, The Grand Place, Brussels, Belgium, 2005
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08-JUN-2005

Bike Rally, The Grand Place, Brussels, Belgium, 2005

In 1695, French guns demolished Brussel's Grand Place. It was quickly rebuilt, and over the centuries it has echoed to the sounds of Napoleon's massed drummers, Wellington's heroic cavalry, and the thud of German jackboots. Today, the loudest noises reverberating off its elegant 18th century buildings come from the shouts of youthful bikers whipping themselves into a frenzy at an early morning road race rally. I abstract the shouting students by shooting them behind, encouraging the viewer to enter the group and cheer along with them, and making the body language tell the story. That body language expresses a number of human values – enthusiasm, energy, competitiveness, companionship, and unity. Some of the students wave tiny flags representing Greece and Italy, so nationalism and pride might be added to the list of human values. I particularly enjoyed the details – the young woman spontaneously leaping on to the back of a friend, the advertising slogans on the backs of the shirts, the triumphant hand gestures, all symbolize human values as well. This was the last cheer – within moments after I made this picture they jumped on their bikes and streamed out of the Grand Place to begin their road race.

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Phil Douglis06-Jul-2005 17:17
Good eye, Kal. I never thought about the energy level of the young man at the right hand edge of the picture until you mentioned it. Now that I do, I also see that his awkward response is a perfect counterpart to the group of young women on the left hand side, who appear to be more involved in their own conversation than in the cheering. All of which seems to heighten the intensity of the kids in the center of the image, who are really into it.
Kal Khogali06-Jul-2005 13:53
I know we all see what we want to see in an image Phil, and I can't but help tell you the two things I noticed in this image. One was all the things you describe, but then my eyes fell on the fellow with the orange sleeves on the right, and they can't leave him. It is as though only he is unable to muster the energy for enthusiasm. His gesture is awakward, he is short and can't even see what everone is cheering about, he is trying to be part of the group, this made this image about belonging, to me. I can almost hear his self-concious hooray as he looks around to see if anyone has noticed him!
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