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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Thirty Eight: The camera as time machine: linking the past to the present > Remembering the Santa Fe, Ash Fork, Arizona, 2006
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12-JUL-2006

Remembering the Santa Fe, Ash Fork, Arizona, 2006

Ash Fork has seen better days. For years this small town stood along the route of the legendary Route 66 that carried traffic from Chicago to Los Angles. It was also a stop on the Santa Fe railroad. Ash Fork has lost both its highway and its railroad. But it has a modest museum, featuring a handmade mannequin of a Santa Fe conductor. Wearing yellowing white gloves, it clutches a timetable for the trains that served Ash Fork long before the coming of the automobile. It was once said that Ash Fork's trains "ran from nothing, through nowhere, to no place." Today, Ash Fork has no trains at all. By photographing just the patiently folded hands of the mannequin holding the ornate timetable from another era, I am able to stop time, and make the past become the present, at least for this moment.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30
1/30s f/2.8 at 8.0mm iso80 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time12-Jul-2006 10:47:34
MakePanasonic
ModelDMC-FZ30
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length8 mm
Exposure Time1/30 sec
Aperturef/2.8
ISO Equivalent80
Exposure Bias
White Balance (10)
Metering Modemulti spot (3)
JPEG Quality (6)
Exposure Programprogram (2)
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis23-Jul-2006 18:37
That's why mimes often wear white gloves, Kal. To stress the symbolic movement and pose of the hands. This image is a trick of light in a way -- by exposing on the white gloves, the background vanishes.
Kal Khogali23-Jul-2006 14:55
I see the mime who reminds of the past out of the dark..a kind of surprise at the end of the show...a trick of light and slight of hand..K
Phil Douglis19-Jul-2006 23:30
I enjoyed both of your comments, Celia and Jenene , for their story telling merits. Celia has this abstracted conductor clutching proudly to the past, willing to wait forever for his train to return, while Jenene likens him to a mime who tells his time worn story with dignity. Both of you get it. I have used my camera as time machine, making the past the present, at least for this moment. Thanks for sensing that and for so eloquently characterizing this image. You have underscored the reasons why I've chosen this particular image to represent this entire gallery.
JSWaters19-Jul-2006 18:25
Like your ghost in 'Haunted vision' cautions us to memorialize a lost era, your conductor waits patiently for us to regain purchase of a treasured piece of American history and even folklore. He not only reminds me of a neatly turned out conductor who would punch our train ticket, but of a mime who tells a time worn story with the dignity it deserves.
Jenene
Cecilia Lim19-Jul-2006 14:52
This is an incredibly moving image about integrity and rememberance. By isolating the gloves from the rest of the mannequin and centering the subject formally in your frame, you've made these "floating hands" as Sonia calls it, into a symbol that represents the past. The trains are long gone, yet these hands - dressed in distinguishing, smart, albeit yellowing gloves - clutch on proudly to the past, waiting forever for the train for as long as it takes. There's a great sense of pride and preservation about Ash Fork's history because it refuses to be forgotten.
Phil Douglis17-Jul-2006 20:37
Hi, Sonia -- it is wonderful to have you back in my galleries again. I am delighted that you related the floating hands to the quote about Ash Fork's trains. They do indeed reflect the spirit of the white gloved conductors that once tended to the Santa Fe Railroad's passengers.
Guest 17-Jul-2006 14:46
I love the abstraction of the floating hands that they appear "ran from nothing, through nowhere, to no place" - implying the spirit of a once lived conductor/passanger.
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