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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Fifteen: Making travel portraits that define personality and character. > Doorway music, Shanghai, China, 2006
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19-MAR-2006

Doorway music, Shanghai, China, 2006

The body language and well-worn surroundings are timeless, but the music this woman brings to her ear is just for the moment. The wire in the ear at first seemed incongruous, yet such things have become universal appendages, regardless of age, gender or location. I made this spontaneous portrait using a 300mm telephoto focal length on a street of antique stalls in Old Shanghai. The portrait speaks simultaneously of both past and present.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30
1/100s f/4.0 at 64.5mm iso80 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis30-Jul-2006 19:02
Yes, Emi - this image does ask us to wonder what she is thinking about. She is impatient and somewhat annoyed, and a moment after I made this picture she vanished behind that door.
Guest 30-Jul-2006 09:21
Obviously, I dont think the music which disturbed her mind, if it is, she can simply remove the earphones! Yes, she seems impatient and annoyed by something she was looking at. This image leads us from the picture to the scene outside the picture. I wonder what was she looking at.

Emi
Phil Douglis27-Jul-2006 18:43
You were with me when I made this photo, Jen, but as I recall, you were helping Liz bargain for a necklace in the store across the street while I was making this picture. This lady might even own that store and is tolerating my camera because she needs our business, right? Who knows why she looks impatient and anxious? You would think the music she is listening to would soothe her soul. In any event, I am glad you love this picture -- my goal was to bring past and present together, and if you sense that, I've accomplished what I set out do with this image. Thanks, as always, for giving me your impressions, Jen.
Jennifer Zhou27-Jul-2006 08:59
You freeze her in a surrounding of timeless, making her part of it but there is something about this woman that doesn't fit into the whole atmosphere, it is her anxious, impatient look on the face. Is the music which disturbed her mind or it is just the reason of herself.. Really love it, it perfectly tells a story about past and present..
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