Reflected tourists, Old Town, Lijiang, China, 2006 photo

Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Thirty Four: Photographing the tourist in all of us > Reflected tourists, Old Town, Lijiang, China, 2006

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01-APR-2006

Reflected tourists, Old Town, Lijiang, China, 2006

By shooting this reflection of a crowd of tourists walking alongside of a canal, I was able to abstract them, suggesting their presence without actually describing their appearance. It is an image that asks the imaginations of those who see it to make of it whatever they wish. To me, this image represents the Old Town that existed long before tourism was established here. The waters are the same – only the visitors have changed. But the visitors can’t be seen – they are only implied. We see the canal as in a dream or fantasy. The reflections of the golden buildings shimmering in the water suggest permanence, while the reflections of the tourists, clad in monochromatic clothing, are transitory. By morning they will be gone, and Old Town will once again reclaim its identity

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30
1/30s f/3.6 at 26.7mm iso80 full exif

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Phil Douglis		26-Jul-2006 05:22
You pick up where Ruth left off, Ceci. She said our "presence ripples and fades away." And now you tell us that everything is really illusory, and these tourists are simply a "memory left in water." Nicely said, Ceci. I sensed this image would resonate with you -- you seem more interested in what is implied than what is seen. I am too.

Guest		26-Jul-2006 04:12
This luminous picture adds to my growing realization of the impermanence and illusion of life -- what we think is solid and "here", isn't, really. Buildings and people that appear solid, aren't -- according to the metaphysicists and the swirling of all matter on a sub-atomic level. In a way, these reflections of living visitors are just ghostly impressions, beautifully and momentarily captured, a memory left in water, resulting in a beautiful abstract. One of my most favorite of your photos that I've seen.

Phil Douglis		18-May-2006 00:13
Wonderful metaphor, Ruthie. "Ultimately, we leave and our presence ripples and fades away." I agree entirely. As your own countryman said in "As You Like It:" "All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances..."

ruthemily		17-May-2006 23:19
even before reading your caption i came to the same meaning you describe. the intransitory nature of people in place...especially as tourists, we feel that we are so much part of a place, that we alter it somewhat merely by spending time there...and perhaps we do to a certain extent, but ultimately we leave and our presence ripples and fades away. we come, we go, we take our photos and our memories...but do we really have as big an impact on physical space as we like to think? as tourists, i'm not sure we do.

Phil Douglis		19-Apr-2006 17:57
Welcome back to this image, Jeremy. It is not unusual for a return visit, particular with abstractions such as this one. Many times we see the image with fresh eyes. You see it again and become even more convinced as to it interpretation. My own interpretation has not changed either.

Jeremy		19-Apr-2006 11:06
I still find myself returning to have another look at this picture. Yes, you are right. The picture needs the caption for one to know it was taken in Lijiang. But its interpretation as I felt it when I saw the picture last night, needs no caption. I do not know if my expression of its interpretation was too abstract or full of incongrous words to make any sense, but seeing the picture again, I felt the same about it as I did last night. Rgds.

Phil Douglis		18-Apr-2006 18:03
Thanks, Jeremy, for seeing what I had hoped you would see in this abstraction. The tourist is merely passing through -- while Lijiang has maintained its unique identity for a thousand years. Some might ask how we know this water represents Lijiang? It could be anywhere. Yet travel photographs do not exist in a vacuum. They require context in order to express the meaning of travel. Context for travel photographs comes in the form of captions, supporting articles, additional imagery and information. When viewers acquire such context for this image, they can come to focus their imaginations on Lijiang, and the visitors it has known over the centuries.

Jeremy		18-Apr-2006 16:15
Your pictures of abstract reflections in water are superb, and this is amazing. Is this a reflection of life, which is hazy, transcient and still in the eternity and flow of time? The river is alive and flowing, but life is transitory and stationary mirrored in it. The abstractness of life brought into focus by its wavery reflection in the water flow? Abstrations and incongruities? Well, it is appropriate that you took this picture in the Old Town of Lijiang, an ancient city that was first built almost a thousand years ago and has survived mostly intact while generations have come and gone.

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