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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Seventeen: Memories in Metal and Stone: How monuments, sculpture, and tombs express ideas. > Dance, Herberger Theatre Center, Phoenix, Arizona, 2007
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28-APR-2007

Dance, Herberger Theatre Center, Phoenix, Arizona, 2007

There are four groups of larger than life bronze sculptures outside the entrance of this theatre. Created by Arizona sculptor John Henry Waddell in the 1970s, they are collectively titled “Dance.” One of the bronze dancers was lunging forward, her body nearly touching the brick plaza in front of the theatre. Normally, 11:00 am is not the best time for outdoor photography, but in this case, the high angle of the sun etched the shadows of trees on to the plaza at the theatre’s entrance. I moved in behind this bronze figure and photographed its arm beckoning towards a shadowy tree. One art form becomes the driving force in another. The statue does more than dance here. My vantage point suggests that its gesture symbolizes mankind paying homage to the glory of the natural world.

Leica D-Lux 3
1/400s f/5.6 at 6.3mm iso100 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time28-Apr-2007 11:05:20
MakeLeica
ModelD-LUX 3
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length6.3 mm
Exposure Time1/400 sec
Aperturef/5.6
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-May-2007 06:00
Thanks, Aloha, for your delightful comment. My wife often teases me about the joy I take in bringing statues to life. She says that they always are eager to stand still for me. But as you point out, I seldom shoot statues standing still. I am expressing movement here, almost stopping time. And yes, it does express the human value of creativity, along with grace, energy, and exploration.
Aloha Diao Lavina17-May-2007 03:45
A delightful composition this is, making this still statue alive, creating the dance with the lines and textures created by the shadow of the tree. Aesthetically this is a superb photograph, and it also expresses a human value--that of delight in creativity, and the energy that is embodied and inspired in dance.
Phil Douglis02-May-2007 20:51
Thanks, Dandan -- there is a playful side to that gesture. It was a delight to shoot here with you last Saturday.
Guest 02-May-2007 20:48
Phil, this is so beautiful, she is playing with the shadows...
Phil Douglis02-May-2007 18:48
The "light of kindess" is a beautiful way to see this image, Tim. There is a gentle, giving quality to that combination of gesture and light expressed by the sculpture's hand. I think that your interpretation and my own motivations were subsconsciously influenced by Michaelangelo's iconic Sistine Chapel image of God creating Adam. There is tension and energy based on hand gestures at work in both of these images. (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:God2-Sistine_Chapel.png )
Tim May02-May-2007 18:21
So many have written so eloquently about this image and already said much of what strikes me about it. I do, though, also see it as a metaphor for spirit - it is as if the statue is touching the earth with the spirit of light and the shadows of the branching trees are waiting for the light to travel through them. I don't necessarily mean on spirit in the religious sense here. It can just be the light of kindness.
Phil Douglis02-May-2007 04:32
Thanks for noting the reflections on the fingers, Iris -- they energize the statue and make its gesture more lifelike. I spent some time, in fact, because of those very reflections, shooting that hand and the shadows, but when I compared those images to this one, I saw how important the figure itself is to the image.
Iris Maybloom (irislm)01-May-2007 23:46
The light on the stretched out fingers is wonderful and the reaching out evokes a powerful feeling of yearning that is very spiritual in nature.
Phil Douglis01-May-2007 21:54
Yes, I see the angel now that you mention it, Ceci. The curve of the dancer's shoulder, cropped as I cropped it, could well be interpreted as the wings of an angel. And once you start to focus on angels, the image changes, doesn't it? The massed stones on the ground can be seen as a form of hell -- the uniformity of those slabs can suggest a mass grave, don't they? It is almost as if you are seeing a "judgement day" scenario here, Ceci. Which is wonderful -- I did not intend anything as angelic -- I saw it as a metaphor about the relationship of man and nature. You see that and more here. Thank you.
Guest 01-May-2007 20:24
Oh, wow, God's angel reaching down to the massed stones on the ground, all the people twined in their own renditions of Hades by choices that we make. All we need to do is stretch out our arms to the waiting light, and turn up our faces to the powerful, positive, abundant vibrations of the Universe. I love this statuary gesture, as though something else was linking the angel (the cropping makes it feel as if this was a winged creature) in a long unending chain of succor that leads upwards, which also appears to be connecting with the tree via its beautiful arching shadow. Everything in this photo is composed of earth, another lovely integration. A most appealing and oddly comforting image!
Phil Douglis30-Apr-2007 17:58
It is as if you were reading my mind, Jenene. There are many bronze figures in this plaza. One of them is lifted high in the air, her own arms reaching skyward. I photographed it again and again and made some beautiful images of it against the budding trees. In the end, however, that was an image I've seen all too often. I did not select it. Instead, I selected this shot of the figure reaching for shadows representing the natural world. You are right. This image says that much of what we honor and seek in life is illusory, even the glory of the natural world.
JSWaters30-Apr-2007 17:33
I love that you've turned this idea of 'mankind paying homage to the glory of the natural world' on it's head. Instead of reaching skyward and using the actual tree and sky to suggest nature and it's glory, you give us a shadowy illusion cast against a backdrop of brick. It says everything about illusions and our need to make those illusions our reality.
Jenene
Phil Douglis30-Apr-2007 17:20
Thanks, Kal, for pointing out that the reality here is illusion. Man is always chasing illusions. And thank you, Alina, for noting the pleasant mood of this image, and the human value of curiosity evoked by the gesture of the dancer.
Alina30-Apr-2007 16:17
I like nice worm colors. The curious dancer is playing with shadows. Pleasant
Kal Khogali30-Apr-2007 14:19
As if it is testing reality...which here is ofcourse the illusion of shadow. A great perspective. K
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