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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty Six : Using reflections to transform reality > Tide pool, Otter Crest Beach, DePoe Bay, Oregon, 2006
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10-JUN-2006

Tide pool, Otter Crest Beach, DePoe Bay, Oregon, 2006

I caught this photographer’s reflection in a tide pool. In such a place as this, potential photographs are literally underfoot at all times. The backlighted subject becomes an abstract symbol of the quest for images. The v-shape of the folded tripod and arm echoes the v-shape of the tide pool itself. Glowing sea creatures merge into the silhouette of the photographer, adding a surreal tone to the character of the picture.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30
1/100s f/4.5 at 9.3mm iso80 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time10-Jun-2006 07:22:41
MakePanasonic
ModelDMC-FZ30
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length9.3 mm
Exposure Time1/100 sec
Aperturef/4.5
ISO Equivalent80
Exposure Bias
White Balance (10)
Metering Modemulti spot (3)
JPEG Quality (6)
Exposure Programprogram (2)
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis01-Jul-2007 19:08
I love your phrase "a feeling of goodbye." I sensed that too, but could not really articulate it until now. I think "Farewell" might even be a good title. By the way, the person in the reflection is a woman, not that it matters. This image is not about gender at all -- it is about exploration, struggle, and to some, even struggle and war. The figure is a phantom, a person in surreal transition. As you say, it seems about to vanish. Thanks, Ceci, for this observation.
Guest 01-Jul-2007 04:25
This is a real trompe l'oeil picture, the eye almost cannot make sense of what it sees here, which feels exciting. It's as though one is looking up through a cleft in something, and seeing a figure above, when of course it's the opposite. I love the colors, the details, the tiny bubbles, bits of earth, twigs, sand, and plant life, turning this into such an organic image. The pose of the man, with his equipment, seems diffident, as though he was going to disappear forever as the earth seems to swallow him up. It's important that his face be obscured for this to have such power, it seems to me, lending it a mystery and depth that actually seeing him would not. There is a definite feeling of good bye in this picture. Wonderful!
Guest 13-Nov-2006 13:33
Sweet!
Phil Douglis03-Sep-2006 02:41
Thank you for coming to my galleries, Esme. I hope this is the first of many comments. There is very much a feeling of the battlefield here -- a sense of utter devastation. The photographer in this picture looks much like an exhausted soldier. Only instead of a rifle, the "soldier" leans on a tripod. You mention color here -- they begin with the colors of war. Mud and rocks. But as we look closer, we see the colors of the sea and the sky, and even a splash of green. So what begins in bleakness, ends in hope. A theme very much in keeping with a photographer's quest for meaning.
Phil Douglis03-Sep-2006 02:34
Very well said, Christine. An explorer who takes risks is an excellent analogy. She is a photographer. And as you know, serious photographers are always taking risks. It is the only way to learn.
Guest 03-Sep-2006 01:37
This is amazing! I thought it was a war photo/reflection. The colors are perfect.
Christine P. Newman03-Sep-2006 00:09
Phil, at first, I thought the person was in a volcano crater like those explorers who take those risks. This is a beautiful abstraction.
Phil Douglis29-Jun-2006 18:06
I love the way you see this image, Emi. When we make pictures of reflections in water, it really helps add mood and mystery if we can feature areas where the ground and water merge. Such is the case here, as you point out. I also like your point about the sense of motion given to the image by the explosion of the clouds in the reflected sky echoing the jagged contours of the earth.
Guest 29-Jun-2006 10:48
Agree with you guys. This picture sure can develop a story.
This is also a strong surreal vision as the reflection and the real ground merged so well.
Especially the part where the sand/bubbles(mixture?) appears in the middle of the photographer's reflection. That part sure enhanced the relationship of the reflection and the real ground merged the 2 things magically.
The movement of that part also echoes with the movement of the clouds which can be seen in the reflection.... suggesting that was a windy day....
Phil Douglis19-Jun-2006 19:10
Thanks, Jenene, for your appraisal of this image. I agree -- the photographer here becomes all of us, in search of an image that expresses an idea. By making a story telling image of this photographer in search of a story-telling image, I demonstrate how opportunities to create incongruities and abstraction and express human values, are often lie no further than our own feet.
JSWaters19-Jun-2006 17:48
If this doesn't speak to every one of us learning from your examples of how to embrace expressive photography, Phil, I don't know what would. We're all in this shot together with your subject, heeding your voice in our head to capture an image that promotes story telling. I've definately projected myself in this one!
Phil Douglis18-Jun-2006 03:42
Thanks, Gary -- I hope you will heed the lesson I learned here. There are photographs just screaming to be taken, if only we can see them for what they can be.
gary becker18-Jun-2006 03:11
Awesome !!!
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