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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Sixty Eight: A city portrait -- impressions of New York > Alone in a crowd, New York City, New York, 2009
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28-JUL-2009

Alone in a crowd, New York City, New York, 2009

On the teeming streets of Manhattan, thousands of strangers walk its sidewalks together as another working day dawns. I exposed on the bright shirt of the man, which caused the women walking alongside and just behind him to fade into darkness. He moves alone in step with the crowd, lost in his own thoughts, as he strides toward his destination. And so does everyone else.

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Kathy Khuner25-Oct-2009 16:45
The three women, wearing sunglasses, seem half way between there and not there - maybe they are ghosts, a muted symbol of possibilities, or a dream.
Phil Douglis13-Aug-2009 20:57
Thanks for the suggestion, Tim. You are right, Tim -- I just tried it in black and white, and the man becomes more alone in terms of visibility. But the women fade even more into the background in black and white, diluting the context and changing the meaning. In color, he stands apart from the women not just in terms of space, but in terms of activity. One of the women is clearly animated, as she talks on her cell phone. She is not alone in this crowd. She has two other women as companions, even if they are unknown to each other. And she has someone to talk to as well. In black and white, this key woman on the phone almost vanishes. The story shifts almost entirely to the "apartness" of the man. Two different pictures, two different stories. I prefer the story this color image has to tell.
Tim May13-Aug-2009 20:12
I like the mood of this one. Did you try it in Black and White? He might seem even more alone without color.
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