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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Forty-Four: Photographing human response – gesture, body language, and expressions > Kite flyer, Shanghai, China, 2007
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06-SEP-2007

Kite flyer, Shanghai, China, 2007

I framed my subject tightly here to stress the gesture – the way the hand delicately plays the string of the kite, almost as if it were a musical instrument. His expression adds context to the gesture – he is relaxed yet concentrating intensely on his task.

Leica V-Lux 1
1/250s f/5.6 at 88.8mm iso100 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time06-Sep-2007 08:22:21
MakeLeica
ModelV-LUX 1
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length88.8 mm
Exposure Time1/250 sec
Aperturef/5.6
ISO Equivalent100
Exposure Bias
White Balance
Metering Modemulti spot (3)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Programprogram (2)
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis11-Dec-2007 20:00
When someone is looking up, I like to get down and heighten that sense of gaze. My low vantage point, as you note, layers the image, placing the hands in the foreground, then the face, and then the hat pointing skyward. Thank you, Patricia, for detailing the image flow here.
Patricia Lay-Dorsey11-Dec-2007 17:57
Your vantage point here--looking up towards your subject--draws our eyes just where you want them--focused on this man's hands and his intense concentration. Our eyes then fly right up the string into the unseen sky where his kite soars on the winds.
Phil Douglis20-Oct-2007 00:31
Thanks, Tim, for this observation. There is always a tension between freedom and control -- a soaring kite can be seen as a symbol of freedom,yet there is that string and there is also this man -- the person who controls it. He gives the kite its freedom to fly, as you note, but he very carefully orchestrates that flight, as his eyes and fingers attest.
Tim May19-Oct-2007 19:14
Kites are amazing symbols - taking flight and coasting in the sky - yet they are tied down and controlled. His eyes and glance speak of the flight, and his hands control the flight.
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