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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Eight: Light and shadow shape meaning > Nude, Tomales Bay, California, 2007
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13-JUN-2007

Nude, Tomales Bay, California, 2007

Just beyond the fence in the previous image, a sculptural figure of a nude woman looks out on the waters of Tomales Bay. The late afternoon sun that sculpted the Czarist Russian fence also illuminates the backside of the stone body. The figure appears almost alive, energized by the flow of light and shadow that defines the body, arms, and ever so little of cascading hair. Another band of soft evening light separates the figure from boulders and the water beyond. It seems to yearn for the water it never can reach.

Leica V-Lux 1
1/500s f/8.0 at 38.7mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis24-Jun-2007 18:43
Thanks, Mo, for likening my style here to the master Caravaggio. What you are seeing here is chiaroscuro, the effect of contrasted light and shadow falling unevenly on the subject. That is how he painted. His style led to the Baroque, which often featured such light as this falling on human figures. One other link to Caravaggio is the nature of the color itself here. It is similar to the colors in an old master. I love this kind of coloration, and the Leica I use tends to interpret colors in this way.
monique jansen24-Jun-2007 09:58
Hauntingly beautiful! Beautiful play of light and shadow, one of my favorites in this gallery. You are a master of light and shadow, a photographer Caravaggio.
Phil Douglis19-Jun-2007 23:14
Thanks, Carol. And that is the whole purpose of what we do. We try to make images that stir the imaginations of our viewers. I am glad this one does it for you.
Carol E Sandgren19-Jun-2007 21:44
In the true Phil-esque dark, shadowy style, I find this a very moving, and moody image. I can imagine what the figure is thinking in this solemn pose.
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