Dog meets boy, Iwaco, Washington, 2006 by Phil Douglis

Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Sixteen: Story-telling street photography > Dog meets boy, Iwaco, Washington, 2006

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08-JUN-2006

Dog meets boy, Iwaco, Washington, 2006

We briefly crossed over into Washington on the way to Oregon's coast. In the village of Iwaco, I saw a dog gazing from the bed of a pick up truck at the figure of a child in a historical mural. The truck stopped just long enough for me to make this photograph. I like the way the curve of the dogs neck echoes the curve of the arch over the boy. The image incongruously links two periods in time, boy with dog, and reality with fiction.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30
1/160s f/5.6 at 11.7mm iso80 hide exif

Full EXIF Info
Date/Time	08-Jun-2006 13:58:04
Make	Panasonic
Model	DMC-FZ30
Flash Used	No
Focal Length	11.7 mm
Exposure Time	1/160 sec
Aperture	f/5.6
ISO Equivalent	80
Exposure Bias
White Balance	(10)
Metering Mode	multi spot (3)
JPEG Quality	(6)
Exposure Program	program (2)
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis		24-Jan-2008 18:16
And what a great sense of color you have, Vera. Yes, the brown dog is timeless here because it is brown and thereby matches the color of the drawing of the old building behind it. I am glad this image gives a lesson regarding the use of black and white or color -- a question you have been thinking a lot about recently. I have a whole gallery devoted to that subject, but this image would work in that gallery as well. It offers a memorable lesson. As for great eye's -- they come with experience and focus. I have been shooting for 50 years, and over the time I have developed an instinct for seeing things that I would have missed in years past. If you want to see a great eye in action, check out my friend Tim May's work athttp://www.pbase.com/mityam He and I have shot together for years, and he always stuns me with his way of seeing. Some people just develop a knack for it, but it does take awhile. You have a remarkable eye already, Vera, and you have barely scratched the surface of your abilities.

Guest		24-Jan-2008 13:19
I believe this photo works extremely well because of the color of the dog. She blends into both time periods. If you took away the truck, it would still look like she belonged in the by gone period. Had she been black and white, I don't think it would have been so seamless. What a great eye you have. V

Phil Douglis		14-Nov-2006 18:55
Incongruous interaction, to be sure. In my street photographer I am always looking for ways to juxtapose my subjects so that they interact in unusual and meaningful ways.

Guest		14-Nov-2006 18:13
I really like this -- you have a great eye! -- the way it is hard to tell mural from real objects, and how they seem to be interacting, which surely is the idea behind a mural

Phil Douglis		11-Nov-2006 19:42
That's the point, Theodore. Life becomes art and art becomes life in this image.

Guest		11-Nov-2006 10:46
Nice. Cant tell if the dog is part of the background wall or not.

Phil Douglis		07-Sep-2006 16:52
Thanks, Emi, for linking the potential symbolic meaning of that red tail light on the truck to this image. I had not noticed it before, but if you see this image as a study in sadness, then that light can well be warning us of potential dangers.

Guest		07-Sep-2006 14:44
Both images (the dog on the truck and the boy on the wall) work very well together. They look almost in a same (sad) mood. I like the arch on the left hand side of the painting and the horizontal 'L' shape of the truck on the right hand side of the photo create a blanket () effect which helps us to focus on the boy and the dog and look at them carefully and feel for them. While the red light in the middle of the picture seems like suggesting this mood can somehow leads to some danger, which we should not let the saddness grow anymore. It suggests a loud warning here. Emi

Phil Douglis		24-Aug-2006 22:12
That was what I felt as I made this image, Ana -- the truck was stopped, yet the dog appears to be watching the boy in the mural walk on past. As I've noted, the image was a grab shot, as are many street photographs. The camera was in my hands, the truck stopped for a light right in front of me, and this dog was in perfect relationship to the boy in the mural. All I did was to raise the camera and shoot. I got off two or three shots before the light changed and the truck moved on. This was by far the most expressive of them. Thanks for stopping by this picture, Ana.

Ana Carloto O'Shea		24-Aug-2006 21:24
Perfect timing in this one Phil. Wow! But what I really find more striking in the image is the fact that you've managed to make every detail in it to work. The way the dog is looking, really makes us think that he's watching the boy, that though he is no more than a painting on the wall, we actually feel like he his moving and that's not just because he was painted in a walking stride, but because the truck is there in the image... It's stopped, but in this way it seems like everything was moving in the photo.. I think that the shot was composed in such a way that it gave life to a painted boy!! :)

Phil Douglis		21-Jun-2006 22:21
Thanks, Lorraine. I saw the incongruity in this juxtaposition immediately -- it is an instinct that comes with a lot of shooting, Lorraine. As for the symbolism, that comes later, when we have time to reflect on the meaning of the picture. This image came about as we stood opposite this building, waiting to depart Iwaco. I saw the mural as a potentially incongruous component. It speaks of yesterday. I needed someone or something to pass in front of it that would represent today and provide a strikingly incongruous contrast. So I waited. Sometimes good things happen to those who wait. And sometimes not. On this day, I was lucky. The truck with the dog stopped for a traffic signal, and I made this image. I was also lucky that the dog was visible. There was another dog in the truck that was not.

Guest		21-Jun-2006 22:13
I am amazed at how quickly you must have even thought about symbolic thinking. Very sharp Phil! .L.

Phil Douglis		19-Jun-2006 18:30
Your dog seems to be related to this dog -- each seems supremely patient as they wait for something to happen. Mine looks to the past, while yours looks to the future. Thanks for posting the link to your own image here, Tim. We are each working with an incongruous relationship of subject and context.

Tim May		19-Jun-2006 16:41
This image reminded me of word with another patient waiting dog. In yours the dog seems to be waiting for a time gone by - while in mine it is waiting for a missing surfer.

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