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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty Nine: The Layered Image – accumulating meaning > Sleeping rickshaw driver, Chau Doc, Vietnam, 2007
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07-JAN-2008

Sleeping rickshaw driver, Chau Doc, Vietnam, 2007

This man's livelihood appears to be draining out of his rickshaw. He sleeps, while his customers are likely seek transport elsewhere. I was tempted to just photograph the driver because he appeared so incongruous, curled up like a baby in the passenger seat. I wanted to say a bit more about him, however, so I created a three-layer image, using my 28mm wideangle lens in a vertical format. I filled the base layer with a glistening puddle, reflecting a world overhead that he does not see. The rickshaw itself makes up my second layer with the driver curled up in a fetal position in the passengers seat. The final layer tells us why he has little business – the street behind him seems to be locked up. A parked motorbike is the only sign of life.

Leica D-Lux 3
1/100s f/2.8 at 6.3mm iso100 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time07-Jan-2008 18:14:24
MakeLeica
ModelD-LUX 3
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length6.3 mm
Exposure Time1/100 sec
Aperturef/2.8
ISO Equivalent100
Exposure Bias
White Balance
Metering Modemulti spot (3)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Programprogram (2)
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis29-Jan-2008 23:50
Thanks, Dave, for noting the importance of the wideangle format here. It stretches and emphasizes the flow of the puddle and its reflection, giving the sleeping rickshaw driver a much stronger context than if the puddle was incidental.
Dave Wyman29-Jan-2008 22:34
Your choice of a wide-angle seems such an appropriate one. You could have created a similar image, including the reflection, with a tighter frame that a zoomed-in lens would have allowed. Yet the view you've given us makes the flow of the water itself act both as a compositional tool and as an equal partner in the overall subject matter.
Phil Douglis26-Jan-2008 20:07
You are right -- the water flowing through this puddle does indeed represent opportunity lost, Jenene.
JSWaters26-Jan-2008 07:56
An interesting metaphor....unless you're ever vigilant, the opportunities pass you by like the running water filling the street's puddles.
Jenene
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