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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Fifteen: Making travel portraits that define personality and character. > Doorway gathering, Guilin, China, 2006
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04-APR-2006

Doorway gathering, Guilin, China, 2006

I found this trio gathered at the front of the building in which they probably live or work. I was far away from them and used a 200mm telephoto focal length. They have spotted me and are posing, but seem a bit uncertain about my purpose. The growling lion statue adds an incongruous counterpoint. (Perhaps some of my Chinese friends will translate the signage over the door, and the large words dimly seen in the room behind the door – it may tell us a bit more about why they are here. A steel security shutter stands open in the doorway, which leads me to believe that this may be a workplace rather than a residence.) I call this impromptu gathering a spontaneous environmental group portrait, where the setting is just as important as the character of the subjects. Ultimately, this image offers them a sense of place, and asks us to ponder what each of these men might be thinking.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30
1/40s f/3.6 at 54.7mm iso80 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time04-Apr-2005 17:14:50
MakePanasonic
ModelDMC-FZ30
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length54.7 mm
Exposure Time1/40 sec
Aperturef/3.6
ISO Equivalent80
Exposure Bias
White Balance (10)
Metering Modemulti spot (3)
JPEG Quality (6)
Exposure Programprogram (2)
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis31-Jul-2006 04:53
Emi, don't make the mistake of "pigeon-holing" pictures as one genre or another. This image is certainly a group portrait that expresses the bonds that make the group a group. But it could just as easily be in my street photography gallery, since I found these people and this place on a street. It could be in my human values gallery as well. Or my sense of place gallery. Or even as an example of telephoto photography. All of my images can represent a number of possible genres. By resisting the urge to "slot" a picture into a particular "hole" we can think of our images, and in turn our photography, in a much more flexible way. And flexible thinking, in my view, is much preferable to rigidly categorized thinking. So the answer to your question is yes --- you can think of this as both a portrait and an example of street photography. It is all that, and more.
Guest 31-Jul-2006 02:48
And one more question. Should we consider this picture as a street photograph than a portrait? Or both will do? I am not sure since I haven't read your street photography gallery. Thanks.

Emi
Phil Douglis31-Jul-2006 02:47
Thanks, Emi for this clarification. Maybe some of our mainland China viewers can give us a more accurate idea of the nature of this place.
Guest 31-Jul-2006 02:45
The translation is easy, and you are very welcome Phil. However, I don't know if your guess of this building is some kind of a governmental agency and those people are officials or clients are right. I am not very familiar of the prastice of the mainland China in this aspect(shame on me). But I think these kind of wording (" Advanced xxxxx", " Be united xxxxx" , "Civilized xxxx") are in very common used in the mainland China to encourage its people after the mainland China "opened" itself to the world. So we can see those wording everywhere in the mailand.

Just don't wanna mislead you and the other viewers of this picture in the future. And hopefully some of the Chinese viewers can explain more on this context to us.

Emi
Phil Douglis30-Jul-2006 18:57
Thanks, Emi, for the translation. From what you tell us, I would guess this building is some kind of a governmental agency, and these people are either officials or clients. As for its meaning, you must look beyond the subject themselves to perceive it, Emi. Look at their body language and expressions and how they relate to the fierce lion and the institution that provides them context. And then -- as I suggested in the my caption -- ponder what each of these men might be thinking.
Guest 30-Jul-2006 09:16
For the translation part, I think I can help -
1)The 4 big words behind the men in the darkness, I guess that is a big glass? Those words, read from left to right, saying "Be united and creative". Actually there are 2 more words I can see, but because of the gate, I cant see one of those and thus cant see the meaning.
2)The golden sign on the top - it says "Advanced Unit"
3)The red sign on the top - says "Civilized Unit"

But back to the pictures, I cant get any meaning from those people, they are just sitting there chatting, or maybe has nothing to do as the lion statue there, so they stayed together and chatted.

Emi
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