photo sharing and upload picture albums photo forums search pictures popular photos photography help login
Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Forty One: Ruins and wrecks: photographing the rusted, busted past > Coffee display, Bodie Historical Park, California, 2006
previous | next
21-OCT-2006

Coffee display, Bodie Historical Park, California, 2006

Shooting through the window of the old general store in the Bodie ghost town, I zoomed in on this flaking, highly decorative 19th century coffee display. It looks very much like a Roman funerary painting, an appropriate symbol for a long dead town. Time has dealt with it painted surface harshly, disfiguring its beauty, and making it into a hauntingly incongruous ruin. My image of it is just as haunted.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50
1/80s f/3.6 at 55.9mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
share
Phil Douglis16-Jun-2007 05:48
Morbid Elegance? Another Sun Han contribution. I think the decay on the tin gives it that morbidity.
Guest 16-Jun-2007 05:12
it's 19th century people's fantasy art of exotic imports. expressed in art-deco style, i guess it's a display on a tinbox for tea, since the lady has an oriental features and dressed sort of like a chinese comcubine or courtesan, catering for "madame butterfly" complex in those days. now it becomes a emblem for nostalgia sentiment in a post-colonial context, i must agree it looks elegant in a slightly morbid way.
Phil Douglis17-Nov-2006 00:41
What a fascinating observation, Jude. As I noted in the caption, I saw it an extension of Roman funerary art. But you are right -- beautiful women have long been objectified in the pursuit of commerce. The Asiatic influence on this commercial embellishment is very subtle but is probably there. It is ironic that most of the "art" that once defined Bodie is gone but this coffee display remains, its haunting imagery crumbling with time. How did the gold miners who once brought coffee in this store look upon it? We can only imagine their thoughts.
Jude Marion16-Nov-2006 14:15
Phil, when I first saw the thumb I thought immediately of a Fayum portrait and the idealized and elegant wall paintings from the Villa Farnesina of ancient Rome. Although this display was originally meant to be a decorative piece, selling an elegance that a certain brand of coffee might possess, it is now a funerary piece. Looking at the womans face, we don't see an Asian woman, but a styalized rendering of a woman with 'Asian-like' features. In Canada, there were once immigration laws that only allowed Chinese men to come here for the short term to work as labourers, which had a significant impact by splitting up families and implying that Asian women were not 'acceptable'. These laws were meant to encourage Asian men to come here as cheap labour; but guaranteed that they would not stay here since their families were not here and 'suitable brides' could only be found back home. But an interesting historical incongruity, at the same time there was a flavour for 'Japonisme' - things that had a Eastern decorative feel. I suspect similar sentiments were previlent in the US at the time. So, this womans image remains, weathered and faded, representing a dead discriminatory immigration practice as well as representing a dead town.
Phil Douglis06-Nov-2006 19:08
Flawed beauty is always a compelling subject. She is so refined, elegant, and timeless -- yet time itself eats away at the very surface she occupies. No, we won't forget her, Ai Li. She will always be there in our imaginations. Thanks, as always, for seeing what I was trying to accomplish with this image.
AL06-Nov-2006 10:39
A fading beauty yet rich in texture, color, art, culture and history. It's still putting up a good fight with time. Not to be forgotten, lost or ignored :-) Thanks for such a fascinating find.
Phil Douglis04-Nov-2006 00:55
Far from detracting, the wear and tear on this image is what gives this object its compelling aura. When shooting relics of the past, I look first for the character that the passage of time has granted the subject, and stress it as best I can. Thanks, Jenene, for this observation.
JSWaters31-Oct-2006 17:38
Time's fingers have rubbed thin the patina on this display, but it does not detract from it's highly decorative presence. Cecilia's comments add wonderful context and food for thought. It's an elegant reminder of the diversity of Bodie's history.
Jenene
Phil Douglis29-Oct-2006 06:05
It takes some cultural and historical context to appreciated these nuances, Ceci-- you give us much to think about here. I was thinking more of lost beauty when I made this image, but now that you mention this additional historical and cultural context, the image becomes more significant and expressive. Thanks for your eloquent words.
Guest 29-Oct-2006 05:23
This most evocative image with its faded, chipped advertising seems to whisper of the Orientals who helped to put the West on the map, and of the cultural refinement they brought with them into a new land, which then became part of the landscape. They had tea, spices, gunpowder, metals, silk, and so much else long before the Europeans, and yet coming here, they became merely part of the work force. Even in its crumbling state, this piece of art glows with sensibilities and marvelous colors.
Type your message and click Add Comment
It is best to login or register first but you may post as a guest.
Enter an optional name and contact email address. Name
Name Email
help private comment