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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Forty-Four: Photographing human response – gesture, body language, and expressions > Loading up, Tineghir, Morocco, 2006
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21-DEC-2006

Loading up, Tineghir, Morocco, 2006

Multi-tasking often reveals expressive body language. This man was loading luggage on top of his truck in the town square, while trying to maintain his balance at the same time. I abstract him by shooting from behind, simplifying the picture and calling particular attention to his precarious posture. With a mosque and soaring clouds as background, he shows complete confidence in himself. He must have felt that someone was watching over him.

Leica V-Lux 1
1/640s f/8.0 at 11.4mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis27-Mar-2007 17:14
You are right, Aloha -- not only can we express the feelings of people through their responses, but in some cases, their intentions as well. Yes, there is the moment of decision here, a choice of movement that may well determine whether he succeeds, or possibly stumbles and falls. But even more so, we see in this image a sense of confidence and purpose. His body language signals that he intends to master this task.
Aloha Diao Lavina27-Mar-2007 12:17
I agree with Tim's comment--this moment is forever frozen in the photograph: a moment of decision and surefootedness. But that adds so much more to the captured motion of the man, no more than just the motion, his captured intention.
Phil Douglis16-Jan-2007 05:36
It's the coloration as well as the body language that makes him statuesque. I like your view of this image as honoring everyman by making him into a living monument. Thanks, Tim.
Tim May16-Jan-2007 04:22
There is something almost statue-like here - it seems to me as if he is standing on a pedestal - yet this is not the usual subject of public statues - here the common man is honored - the man at work - for me you have made him into a timeless everyman.
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