On the Great Wall, by Tim May, Mutianyu, China, 2007 photo

Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Thirty Seven: As others see me > On the Great Wall, by Tim May, Mutianyu, China, 2007

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17-SEP-2007

On the Great Wall, by Tim May, Mutianyu, China, 2007

Tim, who has tracked my adventures around the world, abstracts me here – I am not as much Phil Douglis as I am a photographer, exploring one of the greatest ruins on earth. The day was foggy, and Tim does not try to remake the image as it would look on a sunny day. Fog can be delightful weather for photography because it can hide as much as it can reveal and Tim tells it like it was. The moment Tim selects is a very characteristic one. I carry my hands away from the body, as if to gain traction on the uneven roadway. My head is down, seemingly giving me an air of determination. Actually I am watching each step – the uneven road is a recipe for disaster. Tim is standing within one of the wall’s towers, and he frames my distant figure within an arch that was built in the age of the Mongol invasions. I walk into history here – and that is what I probably love to do the most when I travel.

Olympus Evolt E-510
1/320s f/10.0 at 31.0mm iso200 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto

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Monte Stevens		15-Mar-2008 22:48
This is wonderful!

Guest		15-Mar-2008 00:45
Natural Framing Indeed. V

Phil Douglis		14-Mar-2008 00:08
Thanks for this comment, Kal. Yes, it does show determination -- as you know, I take my photography seriously. Most travelers shoot to remember what they saw, while I shoot to express how I feel about what I see and then teach such expression to others. And yes, that takes a degree of determination. Along with patience, thought, and ultimately, passion.

Phil Douglis		13-Mar-2008 20:34
Thanks, Sofia -- as I mentioned below, the scale incongruity is an important part of the expression here. Tim does indeed make the point that history is larger than any single person, be it Mao, Lenin, Genghis Kahn, or in this case, a photographer named Phil Douglis. In the end, the Great Wall outlives us all. And so too, does history itself.

Guest		13-Mar-2008 20:30
Tim got you into the history! You seem so small on this Great Wall :)

Tim May		13-Mar-2008 20:17
Often times when people comment on my work they refer to my "eye." It is an interesting term from the standpoint of a photographer - how we see, what we see, and what we record are the root of our work. Often people refer the eyes and the pathway to the soul. In our case, as photographers, they are also the pathway out of our souls.

Phil Douglis		13-Mar-2008 19:55
It is always a great benefit to know a photographer's intentions when looking at a photograph. Thanks, Tim, for telling us what you had in mind when you made this picture of me walking towards you on the Great Wall of China. Viewing the arch as a metaphorical eye adds so much to the meaning of this picture. You suggest that there are multiple eyes at work here as well -- the eye of the photographer, the photographic eye of the subject, the eye of the viewer, the eye of the Great Wall and the eye of history itself. The eye is a metaphorical camera, interpreting a moment in light, time, and space according to a particular point of view. I now look at this arch as such an eye.

Phil Douglis		13-Mar-2008 19:47
Thanks Chris, Enrico, and Alina, for your comments. Tim's framing and composition -- along with his exposure and tonal variations -- do much to enhance the moment in time that he has chosen to stop. He uses scale incongruity as well -- the arch and roadway are so much larger than the photographer who slogs his way towards us.

Tim May		13-Mar-2008 16:13
I'm glad so many people are enjoying this image. In some ways for me, the framing creates an "eye." The eye can be a metaphor for many things: the eye the photographer is walking into as we as photographers must enter our eyes when we are out image making (I can still remember Phil commenting to me once when he came back from a photo journey that he needed to rest his photography eye), it can be the eye of the person making the image - looking out at the world from within the recesses of our "towers," it could be the eye of the wall observing all those who visit, or the eye of history.

Alina		13-Mar-2008 14:34
I like the way Tim frame you. Great portrait of the great photographer ~v~

Enrico Martinuzzi		13-Mar-2008 13:10
Superb. Great composition and superb subdued tones GMV

Chris Sofopoulos		13-Mar-2008 07:38
I love this photo. And it is amazing the way Tim composed it! Simply amazing! A big bravo Tim!! And how lucky you are Phil to travel to such historic places.

Phil Douglis		13-Mar-2008 05:54
Thanks to the two Veras, Jenene, Sue, and Tricia, for commenting on Tim's image of me on the Great Wall. I appreciate your keyhole metaphor, Vera S. One might also see the importance darkness as well as the light in Tim's image -- with the darkness representing the fact that we have barely scratched the surface in terms of understanding photography. All of us have so much yet to learn. And thank you, Jenene, for grasping the importance of Tim's vantage point in relationship to the subject. Both of us walked a long way that afternoon. And finally, Tricia notes how Tim uses framing to create depth perception here that expresses both exertion and distance. On behalf of the artist, Tim May, the subject of this picture thanks all of you for your insights.

flowsnow		13-Mar-2008 05:34
Glad you had a great and wild time at the East. There are a lot of places to explore and every step you take is a new adventure as in this picture describes it. The framing gives the viewer an in depth perspective like a 3D effect of an a very tired traveller taking his final steps reaching the end of his exploration.

Sue Robertson		13-Mar-2008 04:32
I enjoyed the story behind the image as much as the image itself. Excellent framing.

JSWaters		13-Mar-2008 02:53
A fantastic reversal on the typical Great Wall image - we see only a portion instead of the expanse. You must have trekked quite a distance to get to a spot on the Wall where we see only you, the photographer and chronicler, minding his step on the uneven surface of an enduring part of China's history. Jenene

Guest		13-Mar-2008 01:49
What a great image. I think the framing looks like I am watching you through a keyhole. How suitable for a man who is trying to unlock the inner most talent of his students which often remains behind closed doors.

veraferia		13-Mar-2008 00:38
Splendid composition! Your words enrich the image!V

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