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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Forty One: Ruins and wrecks: photographing the rusted, busted past > Barn door, Nageezi, New Mexico, 2007
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11-NOV-2007

Barn door, Nageezi, New Mexico, 2007

I photographed this old barn door near Nageezi, New Mexico, on the road to Chaco Canyon. It reveals its own history as it sheds its skin and displays its inner workings. I base the image on its geometric structure – the repeating diagonals play against vertical and horizontal thrusts. I under-exposed the image to deepen the rich maroon coloration. It may be falling apart in front of us, yet its underlying strength is there for all to see.

Leica V-Lux 1
1/500s f/8.0 at 9.9mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis19-Apr-2008 03:30
That was my purpose, Lille -- to awaken memories. This image is extremely nostalgic.
Lille McGhee08-Apr-2008 18:29
Phil...HAPPY GREETINGS FROM NORTHERN CALIFORNIA - U.S.A. A stunning Photo Gallery 41. I am especially drawn to the photo, "BARN DOOR..." It takes me back to the days as a farmer's daughter in rural North Carolina. CONGRATULATIONS! Tour my Abstract Art Gallery & post your comments: www.pbase.com/lille_mcghee **THANKS*** lille
Phil Douglis27-Nov-2007 00:11
Thank you, Patricia, for appreciating what I am trying to do with this image. I love decay for what it can teach us about a culture, or in this case, about something as simple as an old barn door. I like taking the ordinary, and making us see in it in an extraordinary way. By photographically peeling away the layers of time, we can do just that.
Patricia Lay-Dorsey26-Nov-2007 23:51
To my eyes, this is an extraordinarily beautiful photograph, but I'm always attracted to decay in one form or another. The geometry structure with its play of diagonals against h orizontals and verticals. The deep earthy colors and tactile changes in texture. The sense of abstracted time. I love it all!
Phil Douglis24-Nov-2007 23:49
Thanks, Tim, for pointing out the "false front" implied by the "brick" shingles on this door. The fake brick was the first thing to wear away here. You are right. Everything, including ourselves, will eventually crumble and vanish. Such is the nature of nature.
Tim May24-Nov-2007 18:09
I also see that it was covered with a false brick shingling which created a sense of strength that wasn't real, yet that eventually erodes. And, yes the underlying structure is there, but it too is weathering away, as we all must.
Phil Douglis21-Nov-2007 18:01
Thanks, Carole. Whenever I photograph, I tend to think of the subject in human terms, and interpret it accordingly.
Abstraction for me is not a end in itself -- it is a means of honing down a subject to find the essence within, and hopefully, that essence can be understood in human terms.
Carole Scurlock21-Nov-2007 04:15
Another interpretation of the door. You've almost humanized it with your observations.
I saw it as pure abstraction and moved on.
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