The Forbidden City, Hue, Vietnam, 2000 by Phil Douglis

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23-FEB-2000

The Forbidden City, Hue, Vietnam, 2000

By photographing one of the pagodas of Hue's Forbidden City through a slat screened window, I wanted to create the effect of a barrier, symbolizing the theme of this historical compound.

Kodak DC4800
1/250s f/4.0 at 12.3mm full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto

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Phil Douglis		28-Aug-2005 18:11
Wonderful interpretation, Ramma. What you are saying is very much the same as the glass half empty or full analogy. I intended this to speak of the Forbidden. Yet you read it in reverse, by identifying with someone longing for freedom. Once again, you show us how expressive images work the human imagination, and tell us as much about the person viewing the image as about the subject of the picture itself.

Ramma		28-Aug-2005 12:24
I love the way through this photograph u literally say Forbidden City. The image almost translates into what you are trying to show, Phil. I was reading the conversation between u and River, and i have to say that to me this image does express Freedom. I'll explain.There's a famous quote, I don'nt know by whom, but it has always stayed with me, it goes something like this--2 men looked out of Prison, one saw the stones, the other saw the Stars. Now, when one sees this image closely, there is so much of sky. almost as if the person looking out of the window, looked up not straight, and not down, which denotes Hope,optimism. So, for me this image signifies freedom, in the eyes, mind and wishes of the person standing behind the Bars.

Phil Douglis		08-Mar-2005 22:07
I thought you intended to express that idea, River. Thank you.

Guest		08-Mar-2005 06:21
Hi, Phil, sorry for the confusion, I have the same feeling as you felt, the lack of freedom that expresses the desire for the freedom.

Phil Douglis		27-Feb-2005 06:38
I see this image as expressing a lack of freedom, River. Are you saying it expresses freedom? If so, how?

Guest		25-Feb-2005 15:41
Freedom! Phil, that's the word I want to say after I see this image. The perpective of this photo is just right to capture the feeling in those old days. Forbidden city might be some place that many people were dreaming to live in, but whoever lived there lost their freedom. That's just my feeling though... I like the perspective and I actually often use it too. :)

Phil Douglis		14-Dec-2004 23:26
If an image can make a professional photojournalist shiver, Mikel, it must be doing what I intended it to do. And that is to provoke your imagination to go back in time and imagine yourself trapped within this palace, with the only way out being feet first. Abstraction is what causes your imagination to go into overdrive here. Thank you.

Guest		14-Dec-2004 23:04
The first thing I thought knowing that it was the forbidden city whas a flash-back and looking at this interior as the Harem of the Empiror and what the poor concubines could only get to see the mighty building of their despotic lord. The only solution to it was wait for destenie's grace or suecide. Some how I felt like one of those women and almost a shiver whent by my back, seriously.

Guest		01-Dec-2004 18:01
the inside/outside contrast is clearly portrayed, and here speaks of a particular culture.

Phil Douglis		30-Oct-2004 22:46
Thanks for clarifying your previous post, Nut. Yes, I guess you could see the sky around that building as fog, and look back through this window into the past.

nut		30-Oct-2004 09:08
I am thinking about about the past. People who built this place, what ever happened here in the past all gone. I am thinking about the past. The background behide the building look like fog and it remind me about the past.

Phil Douglis		29-Oct-2004 22:11
Nice thought, Nut. I wanted to say that this building is forbidden, shut away. If you want to take it one step further and and make it go away, that is OK with me. What you are thinking, of course, is that the people built this place and once ruled from here, are gone forever, right?

nut		29-Oct-2004 18:42
Something gone forever.

Guest		10-Oct-2004 20:57
The symbolism is obvious here. This is excellent

Phil Douglis		06-Mar-2004 19:47
Thanks, Bruce, for being the first to comment on this image. I am glad you recognize the symbolic value of shooting the forbidden city through a slatted window. In my photography, I am always looking for ways to interpret something by linking it to something else. And that is exactly what I did here.

Guest		06-Mar-2004 12:32
This is fantastic - an approach that not everyone would think of.

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