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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Forty-Three: When doors, arches and gates express ideas > Craft shops, Essaouira, Morocco, 2006
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11-DEC-2006

Craft shops, Essaouira, Morocco, 2006

Some of Morocco’s finest woodworkers ply their craft behind these massive doors. Why iron doors embedded rock? Because their workspaces were formerly solid concrete rooms used to store munitions beneath Essaouira’s ancient ramparts. I photographed a whole row of these former munitions storehouses from a ramp leading down from the top of the ramparts. I waited until two of the occupants made themselves visible within those iron doors in order to add a human presence to the scene.

Leica V-Lux 1
1/400s f/8.0 at 15.3mm iso100 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time11-Dec-2006 03:03:35
MakeLeica
ModelV-LUX 1
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length15.3 mm
Exposure Time1/400 sec
Aperturef/8
ISO Equivalent100
Exposure Bias-0.33
White Balance
Metering Modemulti spot (3)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Programprogram (2)
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis17-Jan-2007 22:35
I love your colorful journey through this image, Ceci --right down to the imaginary urination. I agree -- there is irony in this image as well. A bastion of war turned into a home for artisans has a nice ring to it. As for that "Phaitence" you mention, this is one of those images that was just there. I was walking down a ramp, I the shadows and doors and men, and I shot this picture. Unlike many of my other images, there was no waiting involved.
Guest 17-Jan-2007 21:56
What an amazing shot, with its almost furtive air of two men with their bodies turned away; there is a hint of a prison yard to me with those metal, studded doors, which of course makes sense when I find that this was a place used to store war paraphenalia. I love the diagonal slashing across the picture, the light and shadows, the warm colors, and those two black doors which provide such contrast for the people. It is entirely possible that one guy is peeing against the wall, for the other one's body language seems almost judgemental as he gazes to his right. How wonderful to learn that artisans now inhabit this place (instead of weapons for killing) for the purpose of creating things of beauty and utility. I would like to add to Tim's word-coining for YOUR art, Phil, the word "Phaitence" -- the act of waiting for just the perfect elements to enter your frame, so that something sublime can be recorded. Bravo!
Phil Douglis12-Jan-2007 22:46
Thanks for adding still another observation on the power of a doorway to express meaning, Jenene. To see a doorway as a "portal to discover our fellow man" is magical.
JSWaters12-Jan-2007 20:22
Tim's right, this does typify your style. The relationship of humans to shadows is intriguing in part because we want to enlighten ourselves about what makes others tick. The doorways you often use to place your subjects serve as portals to discovery of our fellow man.
Jenene
Phil Douglis12-Jan-2007 18:58
Thanks, Tim, for coining the term "philtifs." And yes, this is a motif I seem to savor - the relationship of humans to shadows. And man of those shadows occur in doors and doorways.
Tim May12-Jan-2007 18:17
While I often create "timesques" you create "philtifs" (phil motifs) This image so typifies your style of light and shadow and the placement of humans in and out of that shadow. The waiting of occupants to add the melody that makes the image sing.
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