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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Thirty Nine: Juxtaposition – compare and contrast for meaning > Fog on the Firehole, Yellowstone National Park, 2006
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28-SEP-2006

Fog on the Firehole, Yellowstone National Park, 2006

Early morning fog begins to lift over the Firehole River Valley as I juxtapose a grazing bison to a leaning pine tree. Both the tree and the hump of the bison’s back point to the left. There is strong contrast between the large tree and the smaller bison. There is tension in the negative space between them -- it almost feels as if the bison could push it over if it got much closer.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50
1/200s f/5.0 at 17.3mm iso100 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time28-Sep-2006 07:26:49
MakePanasonic
ModelDMC-FZ50
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length17.3 mm
Exposure Time1/200 sec
Aperturef/5
ISO Equivalent100
Exposure Bias-0.33
White Balance
Metering Modemulti spot (3)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Programprogram (2)
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis05-Nov-2006 03:53
Thanks, Ceci, for reading so much history into this message. I see the bittersweet symbolism here as well -- the lone bison indeed suggests paucity, and that, in turn, does trigger thoughts of the slaughter of these once great herds. How we treated the bison reminds us of how we subjugated the Indian under our doctrine of Manifest Destiny, removing them from their lands and interning them on reservations. All of which still leaves a bitter taste, to be sure. Yet as you also note,there is sweetness to be found in the color here, as well as in the knowledge that, in spite of decimating the nature of the Old West, we also managed to preserve some of it forever. And Yellowstone was the first place to be saved.
Guest 05-Nov-2006 02:03
What an image! Complete with mist to soften all the reminders of the violent land in the background, a lone bull as symbol of the millions of animals upon which entire cultures depended and which were effectively wiped out by repeating weapons of the white man and his hordes, a crooked branch to signify all the broken lances of the Native Americans who once roamed this area, and a single tree, clinging tenaciously to the land with its crop of cones--as though the last of its kind. This picture fills me with sadness for the genocide which befell the Indians at the hands of rapacious Europeans. Such a vivid silhouette the buffalo makes, and how warm the color of the cones, the land and the
grasses below. A marvelous composition!
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