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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Forty-Nine: Creating an echo with rhythm and pattern > Morning coffee, Pulau Ubin, Singapore, 2007
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31-AUG-2007

Morning coffee, Pulau Ubin, Singapore, 2007

Ubin Island is just a short bumboat ride away from Singapore. We spent a day exploring its hills and quarries. As we disembarked, we passed this woman having her morning cup of coffee. I organized the image around the repeating rhythms created by the chairs that face, and ultimately embrace, her. The verticality of the back slats is subtly repeated by the ribs on her cup, while the pattern of her shirt and the curve of her hair echoes the curving backs of the plastic chairs.

Leica V-Lux 1
1/200s f/4.5 at 56.3mm iso200 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time31-Aug-2007 11:07:12
MakeLeica
ModelV-LUX 1
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length56.3 mm
Exposure Time1/200 sec
Aperturef/4.5
ISO Equivalent200
Exposure Bias
White Balance
Metering Modemulti spot (3)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Programprogram (2)
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis15-Oct-2007 22:33
You always see the small things that make an image sing, Tim. Thanks for pointing out the role of the thumb here -- it does indeed punctuate the rhythm, point to the person, and humanize the image. Now, when I look at the rhythms within the negative spaces on the backs of the chairs, I see giant thumbs.
Tim May15-Oct-2007 18:03
But --- the thumb! The thumb punctuates the rhythm and points to the person, the person who lives in the patterns and has a personal history of events and feelings. The thumb humanizes the image for me.
Phil Douglis06-Oct-2007 21:49
Order, rhythm, pattern, repetition are part of the fabric of Asia itself, Jenene. Part of Asia's magic is the contrast between it's seemingly chaotic streets, and its regimented traditions and geometrically balanced arts.
JSWaters06-Oct-2007 05:38
You know I would love this geometry - so regimented and ordered. She is enjoying her coffee in her familiar environs, and as you say, they embrace her. So much of what I learned while living in Asia has to do with order and repetition.
Jenene
Phil Douglis01-Oct-2007 18:15
I hope your sister is feeling better, Melvin. Thanks for sharing your coffee-addiction with us. That morning cup is a universal need. There are enough symbolic empty chairs here for all of us to join her.
Guest 01-Oct-2007 14:36
This image reminds me of how I missed my regular morning coffee that day. I rushed to the hospital to see my sister and then to Ubin to meet you guys.
If only I had seen this woman or someone else at that shop drinking their coffee, the sense of that taste would have stopped me in my tracks, and make me just slide into one of those chairs for that cup of coffee...
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