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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery One: Travel Abstractions -- Unlimited Thought > Le Carousel at dawn, Bryant Park, New York City, New York, 2013
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18-OCT-2013

Le Carousel at dawn, Bryant Park, New York City, New York, 2013

By spot-metering on the early morning sunlight playing on the sheets of plastic covering this diminutive carousel, I was able to abstract this image by throwing much of the scene into shadow. The eye goes to the silhouetted horse in the middle of the frame. The puff of orange light seemingly coming from its mouth, along with the light crowning its head, bring it to life. The image conveys a dream-like mood, a nostalgic look back into another time.

FujiFilm X-M1
1/90s f/5.6 at 50.0mm iso400 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Brian Mosley 29-Mar-2024 15:00
Phil, I'm just commenting to let you know that I'm using the very latest technology to help new communities of photographers to find your legacy... I don't know what's happening to pbase - or to photography as an art form with the dominance of social media and generative AI but I'll always treasure your kind gift to the world and hope that it can be maintained for future generations somehow. I've sent you a message on linkedin to follow our community studying this incredible resource and exercising our own collective imagination, inspired by your work.
Phil Douglis24-Apr-2018 20:54
Thanks so much for this comment, Merri. Glad you found my recent post and responded. I hope you will find . this cyberbook of mine of value. For the last fifteen years it has been my pleasure to share my images and ideas with photographers all over the world, and it is heartening to know that you are now among them. If you have any comments or questions on any of the 5,000 or so images, please leave them and I will respond.
Merri 22-Apr-2018 22:49
I just found one of your images on smugmug yesterday went I went hunting to see how some of my Death Valley images compared to others. I was taken by yours of Artist's Palette. That led me to your smugmug galleries which I've enjoyed browsing. Particularly the Kamchatka Peninsula which helped provide context to a book I have: Tent Life in Siberia. So then I went to Google which led me to this website. I look forward to exploring it in-depth :-)
Phil Douglis31-Mar-2018 00:00
I wonder if anyone is commenting on photographs here any more?

This is my very first image that is on display in my very first gallery, so it likely the first image of the nearly 5,000 images I've posted on this site that someone would likely see if they "began at the beginning." Yet no one has left a comment below it in over four years.

I am leaving this comment myself as a test. I am wondering if any photographers are still using pbase.com to study the images of others and learn from them? That's why I've been posting my own photographs here since 2003. More than 11,000 comments have been left below my images here, and I've responded to all of them. If you should happen to stop and find this comment, please let me know that you have stopped by -- I simply want to see if anyone is still coming here? Thanks, Phil Douglis
Phil Douglis30-Dec-2013 02:37
You put it beautifully, Iris. Thank you for relating this image to a style of painting that is rich in symbolism. A rearing horse is often cast in the role of a threat, but here it is reduced to a pleasure. I am reminded of an early 20th century painting by the painter Alexandre Benois. It, too, is dominated by a silhouetted rearing horse -- its threatening shadows pursuing a fleeing figure. See:
Iris Maybloom (irislm)29-Dec-2013 19:02
This image reminds me of the Symbolist Art movement of the late 19th Century. By using colors, rhythms, and symbols, these artists conveyed emotions, moods, and ideas designed to move beyond the obvious. This art especially appealed to those wishing to remove themselves from the materialism of everyday life and seek a higher level of consciousness. This image is an interesting contrast to the garish billboards you depicted in your Times Square images.
Phil Douglis08-Nov-2013 23:44
Thanks, Carol, for making that point here. I immediately sensed a painterly opportunity here. The early morning sun was passing through the plastic cover, creating a pattern very reminiscent of brush strokes. I "worked this image" over and over until I found just the right blend of abstraction and reality.
Carol E Sandgren08-Nov-2013 18:40
The diffusion created by the plastic creates a very painterly textured abstraction.
Phil Douglis31-Oct-2013 22:25
Glad this image has put your imagination into high gear, Ryan. An abstraction should do just that. It leaves out more than it includes, allowing the mind of the viewer to take over and see whatever it wants to see in the image. It really does not matter whether you see plastic or water. (What you are actually seeing are reflections off a plastic wrap and window.) It is the mood that gives this image its nostalgic meaning. I can almost hear the calliope music playing.
Ryan31-Oct-2013 02:42
Wonderful. I always try to figure out a log about the photo before reading your description. I thought plastic, but the upper right has a strong resemblance to a reflection in water. In fact had it not been for the blue "L" on the left side and bottom, I would have spent longer trying to figure out how a carousel could reflect in the water and where you must have been standing.
Phil Douglis29-Oct-2013 22:15
Thanks, Anitta. It is always good to hear from you. This image is as much about what we don't really see, but rather imagine we are seeing.
Anitta28-Oct-2013 19:02
Great to see your work, Phil! Such a wonderful abstract. Full of mystery. Love the lines and the light is fabulous. What a great find. Best, Anitta *V*
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