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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Five: Using the frame to define ideas > Tight fit, Guilin, China, 2006
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04-APR-2006

Tight fit, Guilin, China, 2006

There is barely enough room to read a newspaper in this Guilin street shop, let along get up and walk around. Working space in China is often at a premium, and this woman makes the most of every inch of it. I framed this image as tightly as I could to intensify the tension created by a human form so casually and tightly squeezed into such a small space. I also cropped the image slightly as well to get as much squeeze as I could into the shot. It is the boundaries of the image that make this photo work as much as the boundaries of the shop itself.

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Phil Douglis31-Aug-2006 17:18
Thanks, Jude, for expanding upon the nature of scale here. It is a crop within a crop. She is cropped by her surroundings and than I crop the image even more severely to intensify the tightness. And thanks, too, for mentioning the crop of her head -- it does seem too large for the confined space. Notice that her toe and her back are also out of the image. Yet in spite of her claustrophobic surroundings, she seems to be perfectly content. It's just business as usual in China, where space is at a premium.
Jude Marion31-Aug-2006 12:23
I love this image, Phil. A beautiful comp and the framing is perfect. It helps to accentuate the feeling of the woman being squeezed into this tight spot. She has a bit of an Alice in Wonderland feeling about her ... legs tucked in close to her body while she perches on a too small stool, her head cropped, too large for the condined space.
Phil Douglis28-Apr-2006 19:29
I am glad to see that you noticed the contrast between the chaos of commerce and the simplicity of her dress and demeanor, Niall. While the use of frame is the key to the image, the incongruities that are displayed here are also important to meaning.
type28-Apr-2006 15:32
I agree with Sheena. This is a good example of framing reinforcing an existing theme. I like how her formal dress, the muted colours and body language tries to keep a civilised air among so much anarchic, even vulgar commercialism.
Phil Douglis23-Apr-2006 20:07
Thanks, Xin. As I said in my caption, working space in China often comes at a premium. I don't know if she works here, or if she owns the place. Or if she is a friend or customer, just stopping by for a quick read. But she is well dressed and seems incongruously out of place, as well as out of space, here.
Sheena Xin Liu23-Apr-2006 19:31

Squeezed, over-packed place are everywhere in China. You captured such a mid aged woman, apparently well and formally dressed, in such a packed and messy place. The incongruity tells itself.
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