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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Fifty Four: Opposing diagonals – composing with triangles > Seven Triangles, Scottsdale, Arizona, 2017
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16-OCT-2017

Seven Triangles, Scottsdale, Arizona, 2017

The main entrance the Scottsdale Public Library is always a joy to photograph. It is essentially a huge stairwell that rises around an open atrium. A huge golden quill pen hangs within the stairwell from an overhanging roof. In the afternoon, the sun creates stunning shadows that I use to geometrically organize my image into a zigzagging frame of illuminated stone, containing at least seven complete or partial glowing triangles. The tiny head of a library patron adds a touch of scale incongruity to the scene. This person, caught within a design that rotates around the stem of the golden quill, appears incongruously dwarfed in size by the institution that unfolds around him.

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LX10
1/2000s f/4.0 at 18.3mm iso125 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis06-Nov-2017 21:04
Thanks, Pete, for the complement. The "photographer's eye" has a lot to do with the ability to "see" how light works. In this case, I was not looking at the subject itself. Instead I noticed how light and shadow changed the very nature of the subject into a set of inter-related triangles. I composed this image, and waited for the human figure to enter the frame and bring it to life.
Pete Hemington04-Nov-2017 19:26
Great photographer s eye
Phil Douglis03-Nov-2017 23:01
Thanks, Stephanie, for enjoying the angular composition of this image. That was really all I saw when I first began to work on this idea -- those seven colorful triangles. However the image does not really come to life until that person entered my frame and approached the golden stem of a huge quill that hangs over the scene. That figure adds human values to this image that go beyond design for its own sake, to tell a story.
Stephanie03-Nov-2017 00:45
Love the angles in this great abstract! V
Phil Douglis21-Oct-2017 19:45
Thank you, Sylvie, Azlin, John, Carol, and Iris, for coming to this image and leaving these generous comments. I appreciate all of them. It is always gratifying for me to know that my galleries and their images continue to be of help, even 14 years after I first began posting them here on pbase.

This image is one of four that I have added to a few of my galleries this week, after a hiatus lasting nearly five months since my previous posts. It is always refreshing to pick up the camera after such a layoff and reinvigorate my passion for expressive photography. This particular image was a labor of love -- the angle of light, the play of the shadows, and the nature of this strikingly designed library instantly engaged my imagination, and it was only a matter of time before that person walked into that central triangle and humanized the image for all of us. Yes, it is all about looking for the light first, and then working with the geometry that its shadows create.
Iris Maybloom (irislm)21-Oct-2017 17:25
I haven't been on pbase for quite a while, until today. How wonderful it was to be greeted by this post from you. Your images and their accompanying commentaries have always challenged my thinking and my seeing. This one is no exception. Thank you, Phil.
Carol E Sandgren20-Oct-2017 16:19
Great geometric composition here steals my eye. I like the placement of the tiny person in a centrally located triangle. That museum sounds like a photographer's dream! So nice to see you posting again, Phil...I have missed you.
John Fletcher20-Oct-2017 15:18
Excellent image. Really well composed.
Azlin Ahmad20-Oct-2017 07:29
Hello Phil, it's always a pleasure to see your photos - even after all these years following your suggestions, I keep learning something new. Thank you.
Sylvie Vanderperre20-Oct-2017 07:18
Very well done. V
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