A sense of loss, Mirogoj Cemetery, Zagreb, Croatia, 2005 photo

Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Seventeen: Memories in Metal and Stone: How monuments, sculpture, and tombs express ideas. > A sense of loss, Mirogoj Cemetery, Zagreb, Croatia, 2005

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04-SEP-2005

A sense of loss, Mirogoj Cemetery, Zagreb, Croatia, 2005

This Art Nouveau memorial figure symbolizes a loved one who will never return. Just as I approached this tomb, nature made it even more evocative as a shaft of early morning sunlight passed through a break in the heavy overhead foliage, falling precisely on the head of the figure. I exposed for this lighted portion with my spot meter to make the shadows on the rest of the tomb darker. Death is part of life. It is natural. And nature itself illuminates the meaning of grief here.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20
1/400s f/4.0 at 28.5mm iso80 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto

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Phil Douglis		05-Sep-2006 17:46
I am pleased that you like this image, Ellie. I am sorry that you do not like my others. But that's the way all art must work. If everybody liked everything, there could be no such thing as art. As for my being lucky to get this light, I disagree. Luck is a reflection of the work and effort a photographer brings to the task. I spent the better part of the morning looking at light, and how it expresses meaning. Eventually, I found this tomb. Was it luck? Not as far as I was concerned. It was part of the working process for me.

Phil Douglis		21-Dec-2005 20:06
Thanks, Rene. If the light was not illuminating the face in this way, I would have not made this image. When I am shooting in places such as the Mirogoj, I look first for the light, and what it says. That's what happened here.

Rene Hales		21-Dec-2005 14:26
Lovely, and beautiful the way you took advantage of the light breaking through on the face.--Rene

Phil Douglis		15-Nov-2005 18:41
This is one of my favorite images, Ana, and to have the first three comments on it come from three of my most substantive commentators -- Tim, Kal, and Ana -- is only fitting. You have all allowed your imaginations to enter this image and do its job. The sculptor expresses sadness and loss, while nature and my camera added "the prelude to eternal life" aspect that Kal mentioned. Tim cites the feeling of rest as peace, while you've called attention to the point that death, which is never acknowledged by the decased, can only be remembered by the living. Food for thought? Indeed. Thanks, too, for noticing the role played by the patch of green on the left -- a symbol implying that death is a natural process. Ultimately, it is the shaft of light on the face of the sculpture that made this image go beyond just a description of commemorative statuary. I love the way you phrased the role of light here. You called it "the personification of sadness, of the way one just gives in to it without really noticing what's happening." Thank you, Ana, for adding your perceptive voice to this dialogue on "this secret garden."

Ana Carloto O'Shea		15-Nov-2005 17:20
First I have to say that: This is a beautiful photo! I hate to make these shallow comments on your photos, but it's your fault really :) this is the kind of image that I tend to love beyond words and now what?? What more can I say about it?? Not fair Mr. Douglis... :) This one didn't start well... first I am lost at words, second I've read all the comments that are already here, which is something that I don't like to do. So... "Houston, we have a problem..." A perfect image for a bluesy girl... Yes! No wonder that this is so hard to comment, but well, the way you've exposed the photo for the lighted part of the image really made magic here. These little moments when one can turn an ordinary moment into a delightful one are what make photography so special. And this is an ordinary moment, ok, the statue is quite interesting, but it's the way you've made used of that shread of light that fell on the face of the statue, that really made everything happens here. It's the personification of sadness, of the way one just gives in to it without really noticing what's happening... The light & the shadows here tell many stories, stir the imagination and make us search for the symbolisms that will fit here... The contrast is just right, not to completly hide the stone textures from our eyes :) it's perfect that you've left it just like this. Even that little green on the left looks absolutely perfect here. A peak into the secret garden, where death is remembered by the living... So, beautiful indeed.

Kal Khogali		11-Oct-2005 00:44
I see it now more clearly, the images impact comes from the contrast you describe between sadness of the figure and hope of the light. A wonderful example, how sometimes what you like about a picture comes through the contradictions and incongruities in it.

Phil Douglis		10-Oct-2005 18:23
Good point, Kal. If one believes in life after death, this moment in light, time, and space might well symbolize such beliefs. And that brings up another important point: the sculptor's symbol here -- a downcast figure -- represents sadness. The shaft of light suggests, for most of us at least, the opposite. For some, as you say, it might even suggest a form of immortality. We have two symbols juxtaposed incongruously against each other here -- the sad sculpture and a glowing shaft of light from nature. From this incongruity can come the message you are expressing: sadness and loss are but a prelude to eternal life.

Kal Khogali		10-Oct-2005 14:45
Light is often a metaphor for the heavenly, almost a symbol of the after life. Perhaps that is the acceptance you talk of. To me the light symbolises an afterlife, a message from the heavens.

Phil Douglis		08-Oct-2005 00:27
I think the shaft of light eases the pain of loss here and suggests acceptance of it.

Tim May		05-Oct-2005 17:49
I often hear death referred to as the final rest - my view of this image is not one of loss, but rather one of rest and peace.

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