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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Sixty One: Signs as symbols > Big smile, Toronto, Canada, 2009
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23-SEP-2009

Big smile, Toronto, Canada, 2009

This mural covers nearly a city block. It is signage promoting one of the city’s clubs along Queen Street. Using a 24mm lens, I was able to stretch the subject to stress the sweep of its incongruous lips, teeth, and the rays that flow out of it on both sides. I waited for a sole pedestrian to enter the frame, which gives the image its sense of scale incongruity. The sign itself is incongruous as well – there are no teeth, for example, on the bottom. But there are 30 of them on top, some featuring light fixtures and windows. I thank the delightful pbase photographer Jude Marion, (judespics) who spent an afternoon shooting with me in Toronto, and took me to Queen Street where I photographed this amazing sign.

Leica D-Lux 4
1/320s f/2.8 at 5.1mm iso80 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis21-Nov-2009 01:14
You invariably see things going on my photographs that I miss, and enrich them substantially in the process, Tim.
I had not even noticed the circular discs on the parking meters or the ring through the corner of the lower lip until you mentioned them. They certainly echo the wheels of the bikes and seem to put the whole picture into motion now that can see all of them working together. Thanks for noticing such things.
Tim May20-Nov-2009 23:27
The geometry here is what I like - I like how the circles of the wheels of the bicycles relate to the circles on the parking meters and the piercing of the lip in the far left corner.
Phil Douglis27-Oct-2009 20:18
The mural itself is surreal, reminding me of the logo that once graced Coney Island's famed Steeplechase Park.
(Seehttp://history.amusement-parks.com/insidesteeplechase.htm ) The fact that the bottom teeth are missing makes it even more surreal, an incongruity in both content and scale. And yes, it does seem to want to swallow the unwitting who pass by that door in the center of the mouth.
Iris Maybloom (irislm)27-Oct-2009 20:02
Yes, indeed, this is an amazing smile. It makes me think of the "Twilight Zone" where people, as they pass, are sucked into this club and cross over into another universe. Surreal and mighty spooky!!!
sunlightpix17-Oct-2009 19:39
Surreal, and if you choose to get swallowed up, you pass through a portal into another world.
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