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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery One: Travel Abstractions -- Unlimited Thought > Curves, Old State Capitol, Phoenix, Arizona, 2008
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29-APR-2008

Curves, Old State Capitol, Phoenix, Arizona, 2008

The interior of the copper-clad dome capping the building that served as Arizona’s territorial and state capitol from 1898 to 1974 makes a spectacular abstraction when photographed in part, rather than as a whole. The massive curves and diagonals create energy and tension within my square frame – an abstract expression of architecture, design, engineering and geometry working together in aesthetic harmony.

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1/30s f/4.0 at 16.6mm iso200 full exif

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Phil Douglis15-Mar-2009 19:53
Thanks, Kathy, for seeing contrasting shapes here, Kathy -- that is what abstraction can do to the eye. By cutting a subject loose from its moorings, we encourage the imagination of the our viewers to make of it whatever they please.
Kathy Khuner15-Mar-2009 18:15
After feasting my eyes for a while on this wonderful photo, I noticed that very small, simple, soft, round shape in the middle right triangle and laughed. It looked like this gentle shape with its soft shadows had quietly slipped unnoticed into this mass of strong lines, shapes, and colors. Such a sweet contrast.
Phil Douglis28-Jan-2009 20:34
Glad to see you pick up on the subtle shadows within this image, Shawn. The way the light sculpts the ornamental wooden structure creates a sense of dimensionality -- and the small world that lives within that dimensional illusion exists solely in our imagination. And that is what abstraction does for us -- it prods us to wonder, dream, and imagine.
Guest 28-Jan-2009 18:13
I agree with the warmth of colors and I find a richness created by the very fact that it is carved wood with a repetition of pattern and fine details that aren't so apparent at first but as one looks at the shadows and the way the light hits the wood they can create a small world and live within it.
Phil Douglis03-Jan-2009 17:30
Wonderful metaphor, Nancy -- thanks for likening the geometry of historic architecture to the workings of a clock, and noting the essential link binding history to time. Time is inexorable -- as we explore our past, the present slips away before us.
Nancy Good02-Jan-2009 21:50
Evokes images of the ticking interiors of clocks and other time-pieces, which seems very fitting - we can then feel as if time continues to move even as we appreciate the historic past.
Phil Douglis18-Nov-2008 18:57
The interplay of curve and line here creates energy and tension within the frame, Endre. The warmth of the color creates contrast for these tensions.
endre novak13-Nov-2008 20:13
the warm colours and tones especially emphasize this curvy shapes here. nice framing, as well. strange but the curves are further emphasised by straight lines.
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