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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Fifteen: Making travel portraits that define personality and character. > Face of time, Pingyao, China, 2007
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13-SEP-2007

Face of time, Pingyao, China, 2007

I made this portrait in the warm evening light to bring out the texture in both skin and rock. There is great age expressed here -- both the person and the place speak of time.

Leica V-Lux 1
1/200s f/4.0 at 70.6mm iso100 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time13-Sep-2007 17:08:58
MakeLeica
ModelV-LUX 1
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length70.6 mm
Exposure Time1/200 sec
Aperturef/4
ISO Equivalent100
Exposure Bias-0.33
White Balance
Metering Modemulti spot (3)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Programprogram (2)
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis06-Feb-2008 17:09
Thanks, Christine -- I am delighted that you like this portrait as much as I do. The color relationships here were as important to me as the wonderful subject herself.
Christine P. Newman06-Feb-2008 03:11
Yes, you got a person with a wonderful expression of dignity and strength, but you also managed to make a very artistic photo. The colours of her clothes go so well with the background and they look clean with a special (flower?) touch.
Phil Douglis15-Oct-2007 04:52
I always let my subjects be themselves, Patricia. I do not want my portraits to be pictures of people having their pictures taken. i want them to portray the essence of who and what they are. I am delighted you see so much in this portrait. I agree with much of what you feel and say here. She holds on to that cane as if it were a companion at the end of a long journey. Thank you for putting so much of your imagination to work here,.
Patricia Lay-Dorsey14-Oct-2007 04:58
Phil, this is a portrait that will stay with me. It is hard to express in words what it conjures up in me but I'll try. I see a woman whose life has not been easy, one who has been a rock to others yet has often felt alone herself. She no longer sees the outer world, all that interests her is her inner world, a world of memories that are more vivid than any external events could ever be. She is the last of her peers and feels keenly that fact. Her cane is her companion now, the one she trusts with her life. Phil, this is an exceptional photograph. Bravo to you for taking it and for leaving her alone to be herself.
Phil Douglis01-Oct-2007 18:10
Thanks, Melvin. You are right. We will never know the answers to the questions you pose. But at least we can imagine where she has been, what she has seen and done during her long lifetime. And if an image begins such a dialogue with the imagination, it is doing what expressive photographs are supposed to do.
Guest 01-Oct-2007 13:59
This is a great portrait Phil. Your comparison of face to wall texture is apt, and it immediately brings my attention to wonder what she is contemplating...her life? her gains? her losses? her family? i guess we'll never know.
Phil Douglis28-Sep-2007 04:54
Your comment strikes home, Alina. I try to tell the truth in my images. And in this case, the truth is what you see before you. She is very very old. And she has seen a lot in her life. It is time for her to rest in the sun on a late summer evening.
Alina28-Sep-2007 04:38
Phil, that portrait is hard to comment because it is so true. I’m wonder how old is she?
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