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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Forty-Three: When doors, arches and gates express ideas > Doors of time, Chaco Culture National Historic Park, New Mexico, 2007
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11-NOV-2007

Doors of time, Chaco Culture National Historic Park, New Mexico, 2007

There are more than 30 ancient structures, built by long vanished peoples around 1,000 years ago, at Chaco. They hold hundreds of empty rooms, each of them connected by doors going in and out. Looking through them felt like looking back into time itself. These rooms are all open to the sky – there are no roofs. Yet because of the angle of the light, the play of light and shadow varies from space to space. We are looking through the doors of four connecting rooms here, and the colors change as we move through time and space. The wall of the brightest room, bathed in direct sunlight, is at the very back of image – drawing us towards it with its golden warmth.

Leica V-Lux 1
1/60s f/3.6 at 30.5mm iso100 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time11-Nov-2007 16:08:58
MakeLeica
ModelV-LUX 1
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length30.5 mm
Exposure Time1/60 sec
Aperturef/3.6
ISO Equivalent100
Exposure Bias-0.33
White Balance
Metering Modemulti spot (3)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Programprogram (2)
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis11-Dec-2007 20:01
I love your interpretation of this image, Patricia. It is ironic that this image, which symbolizes human progress, deals with a culture that is now lost to the ages.
Patricia Lay-Dorsey11-Dec-2007 18:01
To me this image symbolizes the human journey from darkness to light. As we pass into each new room we are met with different awarenesses and insights, until finally we see it all clearly as we are bathed in light.
Phil Douglis19-Nov-2007 22:48
You say it so well, Rose Marie. I felt the hand of the past all around me as I made this photo. I was in that labyrinth all by myself, alone with time. And yes, I did reach out and touch those walls with my fingers, and that was when I became aware of not only the individual differences made by the stones, but also the different coloration of the walls due to the way the light fell on them. And that is how this image came to be.
sunlightpix19-Nov-2007 20:00
Yes, I'm so glad you found this spot. If I recall, the doors are not very tall and it's a bit of an effort to get inside there, but it's so worth it. The centuries seem so tactile with every hand-positioned stone in the walls.
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