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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Thirty Seven: As others see me > On the beach, by Dave Wyman, Otter Crest Beach, Oregon, 2006
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10-JUN-2006

On the beach, by Dave Wyman, Otter Crest Beach, Oregon, 2006

I think Dave Wyman expresses an aspect of my approach to pictures in this reflection: a penchant for the incongruous and obscure. He made this image while I was searching for an incongruous exotic sight in a tide pool. (See what I was shooting by clicking on the thumbnail at the bottom. ) He abstracts me, and in the process reduces me to a presence, a symbol rather than a particular person. I was delighted with this view -- it could just as well serve as an example in my own reflection gallery at http://www.pbase.com/pnd1/reflections . Dave Wyman operated and led the photo-tour of Oregon that I was on when this image was made. His expressive pbase galleries can be viewed at http://www.pbase.com/davewyman

Nikon D70s
1/200s f/14.0 at 105.0mm hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time10-Jun-2006 02:13:24
MakeNikon
ModelNIKON D70s
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length105 mm
Exposure Time1/200 sec
Aperturef/14
ISO Equivalent
Exposure Bias
White Balance (-1)
Metering Modematrix (5)
JPEG Quality (6)
Exposure Programaperture priority (3)
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis07-May-2009 17:26
Yes, it is like a painting, Chris. Dave beautifully abstracts me as reflection, bonding me to the natural world I am photographing.
Chris Sofopoulos07-May-2009 06:50
I like the way Dave saw you here. Very interesting approach indeed! Like a painting of you.
Phil Douglis22-Nov-2006 18:04
Thanks, Gil -- after spending the better part of a week working with me in person, you have a better context for this abstract image of me than others. If you want to be a reflection of me, let it come through in your own ideas and images. As for this reflection, it should serve as a reminder that interpretation is always the essence of expression. This is how Dave characterizes my photographic approach here, which is often built around the obscure and the incongruous. Thank you, Gil, for wanting to reflect my suggestions in your own work. I am sure you already have done just that.
Gil Hidalgo22-Nov-2006 16:49
This is what I see...I want to be a reflection of Phil...Now I have one.

Regards,

Gil
Phil Douglis10-Aug-2006 17:54
Thanks, Zandra -- I will be sure Dave sees your commentary. He did all that you say here. He was not just shooting a reflection. He was photographing me -- a person who sees, thinks, and photographs in abstract ways. You are right -- it is very much an evocation of a way of seeing, rather than a description of a person.
Guest 04-Aug-2006 07:06
This is exactly how i picture you Phil. Thumbs up for Dave Wyman for being able to potrait you in this way. This tells us about who you are. Ficused on the task. The abstraction he created by shooting your reflection rather then you enhances, in my mind, your love for abstracting your photos to bring our the essence in them. The texture makes it very much alive as well.
Phil Douglis31-Jul-2006 20:49
Thanks, Rod -- your poetic comment is more than welcome. I will share it with the photographer. You are right -- I rarely quack, and it takes a lot to ruffle my plumage (whatever may be left of it.) As for those steady muscles you imagine, tis not always so. Shortly after this image was made. I lost my balance and careened into a tide pool. Fortunately, one of my fellow photographers was there to catch me. All's well that ends well, Rod.
Guest 31-Jul-2006 18:06
A duck more curious than I.With nary a quack or ruffled plume.Yet steady, wary with beady eye.Nested with ready muscle among the elemental, that it has called its own.Perhaps in deeper reflection than I have given it credit.Rippling in its own currents below the mirror skin of textured life.And if I asked with my eyes to touch through its looking glass, daresay what answer may surface.Thus I preen and conjure from my safe distance.And allow vain imaginations to play among themselves as leaf and twig caught in twirling waft in nomad sail upon unclear pond.
Phil Douglis08-Jul-2006 01:21
Your comment speaks eloquently of body language and how it can communicate, Armin. Even though Dave has abstracted the detail in the reflection, the tension in my body, along with the position of my hands on the camera, speaks of the hunt.
arminb08-Jul-2006 00:00
Yes, it must be you - compared to the street photo with the Don, the pose is so similar, yet so different by the water blur. Wonderful abstract, but clear enough, to show you as a 'hunter' ...it is not a burden, that bends your shoulders...on the contrary, it represents a special tension, focussed, concentrated, always ready ...as you say, like a hunter :)
Phil Douglis07-Jul-2006 05:04
Thanks, Tom, for pointing out the clues to my shooting style that Dave gives us here. I am usually gripping my camera, and yes, the trigger finger, like a good hunting dog, is always on point.
Tom Talbot07-Jul-2006 02:08
I'm always captured by the intensity of your gaze as you are searching for your next photo, and Dave neatly eliminates that by taking the detail of your face out of this photo. But, not to disappoint, you gave us another place to find it. Your hands holding the camera at the ready, with the tight grip and your "trigger finger" on point show us it's Phil, not a bearded imposter wearing a photographers vest.
Phil Douglis28-Jun-2006 02:18
Thanks, Kal, for clearing that up. Mossy and stagnant is not my style.
Kal Khogali28-Jun-2006 01:46
Definitely Dave's expression and not your photography! K
Phil Douglis26-Jun-2006 17:55
Mossy and stagnant, eh? I hope you are referring to Dave's atmosphere here, and not to my photography. I called it incongruous and obscure, which is what my photography so often revels in.
Kal Khogali26-Jun-2006 13:17
I like the mossy, stagnant feel to this. it's as if you have been standing there a long time...K
Phil Douglis24-Jun-2006 05:48
Thanks, Carol, for linking Dave's interpretation of me to the way I approach my own work. In essence, this is an abstraction. You know how important abstraction is to me as both a photographer and a teacher. Dave shows less of me here, and thereby says more.
Carol E Sandgren24-Jun-2006 03:27
And yet your image is presented as clear. Clear but softly obscured by the water and leaves. Your work is always clear and concise as to what it is conveying.
Phil Douglis23-Jun-2006 23:02
Thanks, Veysel. The praise should go to Dave Wyman. All I did here was to be present.
Guest 23-Jun-2006 22:56
Ohhhhhh very nice SP Phil..GMV
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