Double-take, Hong Kong, China, 2004 by Phil Douglis

Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Two: Travel Incongruities > Double-take, Hong Kong, China, 2004


03-JUL-2004

Double-take, Hong Kong, China, 2004

A stream of Kowloon shoppers do their best to ignore the handbills being thrust at them by this woman. I chose to double her task by reflecting it in a nearby window. Reflections often create incongruous relationships. This one is not only amusing but tells a story of frustration – even if there were two of her, and twice as many pedestrians, she would still be coming up empty.

Leica Digilux 2
1/60s f/2.4 at 8.8mm iso100 full exif

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Phil Douglis		27-Aug-2010 21:19
Yes, the variety of responses are indeed incongruous here, River. So is the fact that the woman and the people she is trying to attract are doubled by the reflection.

Guest		27-Aug-2010 20:02
The combined shape of the lady who hands out the flyers and her reflection is what caught my eyes first. That shape is kinda awkward to my eyes but at least got my attention. Looking in details about this photo, it has captured three people's expression: the first walking women whose eyes were looking at the flyer but she didn't seemed interested, even gives me some impression she was annoyed; then the man behind her whose eyes were totally looking ahead and didn't pay attention to the flyer lady at all, his facial expression is very calm, nearly emotionless; finally is the man behind who wears the yellow T-shirt who is smiling and appeared to be in a much lighter mood. Three people have three totally different expression, I think that creates an emotional incongruity

Phil Douglis		27-Jul-2006 05:54
Thanks, Emi, for pointing out what you feel is incongruous and what you don't. Each of us sees the incongruous in different ways. You point out some incongruities here that I did not even notice, yet you don't agree that the split reflected scene I have captured here is incongruous. And that is the way it works -- everyone brings their own context and imagination to bear on this image, and what may seem odd to me may not seem as odd to you, and vice versa. This kind of a scene is very common in all major cities, not just Hong Kong. To me, it was the reflection that was uncommon, and made the image work in an incongruous way. Thanks for your input and continue to use incongruity as a major force in your own work.

Guest		27-Jul-2006 05:38
The double images here don't really work for me in the incongruity sense, but the context does. The incongruity here is in terms of the enthusiastic in giving out and the indifferent in receving and the "alone" vs the "mass", which create the frustration. As a local in Hong Kong, we can see this scene all the time, everywhere. Sometimes, I just feel like to take one of those advertisements from them, so they don't have to stand all day on the street, especially under those hot hot days. However, some poeple may think the same like me - if you get their advertisement, they will print out more and thus they waste more piece of paper. Plus those advertisement seldom help. This, I consider, is another kind of incongruity here. Emi

Phil Douglis		08-Dec-2005 06:21
Benjammer -- never go out without a camera. If your camera is too obvious to carry with you all the time, get one of those little credit card sized cameras and carry it in a small pouch at your belt. Even a used mini-digicam will do, if you find a new one too costly. People will think it's a cell phone. Then, whenever you see an image materialize such as this one, you won't ever again have to say "unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me."

Guest		08-Dec-2005 02:08
Strange, I had a simular idea for a shot. I was just going to take a pic of a reflection of a medium sized road on a bus shelter thing. The relfection caught my eye on a sunny day and it looked interesting from a certain angle, unfortunetly I didn't have my camera with me.

Phil Douglis		28-Aug-2005 21:53
You are right, Kostas. Some images can predict the future. This one does.

Kostas		28-Aug-2005 19:56
When you observe the reflection on the window, you get a feeling that all of them are just one step ahead. Like you can tell the next scene and guess that nobody will extend their arm and get a brochure from the young lady.

Guest		26-Feb-2005 18:18
very cool one

Phil Douglis		23-Dec-2004 02:48
Inkbold, inkblot, Rohrshock, whatever. I thank you for making the connection, Mikel!

Guest		22-Dec-2004 22:26
thats the word!!! inkbold tests... just didint remember the word.

Phil Douglis		22-Dec-2004 20:41
Thanks, Mikel. As you can see from the comments, this image has drawn a lot of attention. You are right -- this image is all about the frustration of doing a job you do not believe in. She is like an automaton. She does not care about those papers or about those people, and those people do not care about her or her papers. I found that the reflected image doubled the tedium and frustration and made the job seem endless. I have no idea what Freud wold have said about this image, but it does seem to replicate one of those psychological inkblot tests, doesn't it?

Guest		22-Dec-2004 19:39
After looking a geat deal the photo, as the other ones triggered alot more my imagination I just resign to idetifie my self with the person that is handing it the papers, doing her job standing up and trying to give the people a paper of some kind without any effectivity and as such frustration. Dubbling the image using the window makes it even more stronger that feeleng since it augments too the volume of pedestrians though in the left side it is more ghostly like, or could it be their souls?? half undrawn certainly the strongest soul wold be the one of the women giving the paper, kind of spooky vision. I wonder wat Freud wold say about it? :)

Phil Douglis		09-Dec-2004 03:38
Vera, All's Well That Ends Well, said Shakespeare. And that is what has obviously happened here. A good lesson for both of us. A healthy willingness to sharply criticize the work of others can bring benefit all the way around. I would have never come back to this image to restudy its framing until it drew your ire. Your suggestion to crop the left hand side and bottom of this picture was unacceptable to me, but it led me to re-examine the right side, which once cropped, changed everything -- amazingly suiting us both! You forgot to criticize the symmetry, but my crop made it asymmetrical, stressing the unreal side over the real side of the picture. With the emphasis on the mirror, it truly becomes a double-take, and a much more successful image. Largely thanks to you, Vera!

Guest		09-Dec-2004 03:21
Phil, I'm going to tell you that -- surprise, surprise! -- I agree on your crop!! :-) The road ahead now seems less empty and spacious than before. I didn't think of cropping the right side before, probably because in your original image I felt a more urgent desire to eliminate the dark portion on the left, and so cropping it was the very first thing I did. After cropping the left, when I then moved on to work on the empty road ahead, naturally I would choose to crop the bottom to balance the proportions (if I cropped the right, it would result in a rather square image, which I believe doesn't work in this image). I don't clearly know why, but the dark portion in your newly cropped image no longer looks very distracting to me.... perhaps it is because there's no more contrast between the dark empty space on the left and the (relatively brighter) empty space on the right upon your cropping? I forgot to mention in my previous message that my suggested crop on the left also serves to make the image less symmetrical -- when it is too symmetrical, the reflective images on the window are subject to direct comparison / contrast to their real counterparts. I like your crop on the right hand edge because the mirror images now attract more attention and are more strongly emphasized than the real people. Whereas in my suggested crop, it is exactly the opposite -- it would be the real world that garners more attention. In your construal of this image as a 'double take', I agree that your crop better serves the purpose! :-) Thank you, Phil, for a valuable lesson! many cheers, Vera. :-)

Phil Douglis		08-Dec-2004 23:25
Vera, in looking at my re-cropped version of this picture, which was stimulated in part by your suggestions below, I see another benefit to cropping it from the side, rather than the bottom as you suggest. I have made this image seem longer than it was, because I have changed its overall proportions. The illusion of added length seems to propel the people towards the bottom and suggest movement. I have also made the image less symmetrical, giving more space the mirror image than the real people. In doing this I feel I have intensified the most fascinating aspect of this picture, which is, of course, the double take. And all because of a small crop on the left hand edge. Thanks again, friend Vera, for your criticisms. They are treasured.

Phil Douglis		08-Dec-2004 23:14
At last, another substantive critique from Vera. It is amazing how differently you and I perceive things, Vera. You wold crop that black window on the left out of my picture because you see its dark color as a distraction. I see it as part of a flow. The woman in the blue shirt is reflected in it, and she is the key to my picture. She needs space to walk forward into that black space in order to maintain the flow of motion I want this image to imply. So I left a small amount of space to the left of her within the reflection that I feel beckons her forward. Your eye sees that black area as an "empty dark portion" but my eye sees it as essential space needed to help define an action, in this case a woman moving towards it. Who is right and who is wrong here? Neither of us, Vera. You would have framed this image differently, for a different purpose. It would have been your picture. But it would not have been mine, right? Ultimately, your suggested crop would not, in my view, hurt the image that much because as you say, you would leave at least left some room for her to be "sucked into that dark realm." I would not touch that window, however. It is really a matter here of degree -- how much dark window do we need to give a true sense of movement here? I say more, you say less. And so it stays more. As for the road ahead, you give me an excellent reason for cropping it. But not from the bottom. From the right hand side. I will re-crop it so that the long line in the street extending from that woman's red shoe runs right into the lower right hand corner. I think that will intensify the feeling of movement significantly. I appreciate your desire to crop some of that open sidewalk off the bottom of the picture, instead, so that there is not as abrupt a difference between crowd and no crowd. That difference does not bother me at all, Vera. I need plenty of space at the bottom of this image left open to imply a sense of forward movement, which this picture is really all about. I will be eternally grateful to you, Vera, for bringing up the subject of a pavement line coming out of the lower right hand corner of the picture. Although you never mentioned it, a side crop will accomplish this beautifully, and will substantially improve the sense of flow. When you next see this image, it will have a new right hand thrust. And so I give you, Vera, a half a loaf instead of a full one. And its not even the kind of bread you wanted here! But you did prod me to re-examine my thinking about the framing of this image. Thanks to your "stubborn and very opinionated comments," you are helping all of us to see and think with fresh eyes. Keep them coming, Vera! Please!

Guest		08-Dec-2004 21:34
Phil, here's my second take on this image -- this time I will throw in some critiques. :-) I appreciate your idea of 'flowing forward' by leaving more space in your frame for both the window (the dark portion on the left of the frame) and the road (ahead of the women), thereby implying that (in your own words, as you've written to me in another message) "they go on & on, sucking the two lines of people on down between them forever". Indeed, this is what a big city life looks like -- we are constantly busily on the run. The roads we travel seem endless (although we actually just keep walking the same roads over and over... like eternal recurrence of the same...), in part because we are constantly delayed by the crowds ahead, or interrupted by people like that woman giving out handbills. I mentioned to you that the dark space on the left is a little distracting to me -- it is however not because (as you guessed) the window or the street competes with meaning. I found (and still find) it distracting because of its dark colour, which stands out in the photo. When I look at the reflections of the people in the window, especially when looking at the woman in blue shirt (as she is closest to the dark portion), my eyes feel somewhat interfered by that empty dark portion sitting vertically on the very left of the frame (I hope you know what I mean). I still prefer cropping it, because I think that your idea of 'going on & on, sucking people on down' will still be retained here upon cropping --- for me, the blue-shirt woman seems already partially 'sucked' into the dark realm (her reflection & the dark area of the window overlap); besides, the dark colour to me already implies a realm of unknown depth and mystery (like a black hole!). So I think it's ok to trim the dark portion (leaving a little space between the left side of the frame and the woman's shoulder). As for the empty road ahead of the people, it just gives me a little odd feeling -- I see all the people behind the blue-shirt woman, so it seems to be quite a busy road with constant flow of traffic... but then how come all of a sudden the road can afford such an empty space (ahead of the woman)? Is it intended to be an incongruity (lots of people behind vs. empty road ahead)? But I somehow feel odd about it. I think cropping here, again, still retains the meaning of flowing forward -- given the angle from which you took this shot, the people seem to actually walk diagonally out of the frame (i.e. they walk toward the lower right corner of the frame, instead of directly forward). So if you crop it such that the line on the road (on the left of the people) leads directly into the lower right corner, then it perhaps serves to imply the road ahead? Also, this way of cropping it, you will still end up having a little space in front of the blue-shirt woman (whereas there's not much space left besides the feet of the handbill woman -- perhaps this also expresses the idea that this woman, unlike all the other people in the image, is stuck in there until the handbills are all handed out?). I think upon doing the two croppings I've mentioned above, the idea of flowing forward still retains. What do you think? Vera (now you see why I've told you I am stubborn & very opinionated). :-)

Phil Douglis		08-Dec-2004 00:42
You are dead on, Vera. The woman in blue is the focal point of this picture. Her attitude represents everyone who has ever been in this position. You don't want to acknowledge the paper in front of you, but it would be rude to pretend it was not there, so you kind of make a half-baked gesture of interest by looking at it as you pass it by. And perhaps there is just that lingering doubt in her mind that you suggest here -- maybe there is a good deal that she may be avoiding. So she looks. But will not touch!

Guest		07-Dec-2004 09:54
I like how the image captures the paradoxical body language of the woman -- she seems to steer herself (her body) away from the handbill, yet her head slightly turns to the direction of the handbill, and moreover her eyes are fixated on it. It seems that she's determined not to take the handbill, but still she wants to make sure she won't be missing anything by not taking it (that's why she looks at it to see what it is -- better make sure it's not a free coupon, or something like that!) Vera.

Phil Douglis		01-Dec-2004 23:27
I agree with you, Clara. It is sad. That's why I took it.

Guest		01-Dec-2004 20:01
another real life snap. i'd say. and to me a little sad.

Phil Douglis		13-Nov-2004 03:33
Yes, Nut. Double means "two of the same thing." And this image is, as you say, all about a "double ignore!"

nut		13-Nov-2004 03:01
But when we say "double", it mean two same thing, right? I see an ignore act on this photo and I got the same feeling when I look into the mirror. So both side give me the same feeling but yes.. double ignore as I said last time.

Phil Douglis		08-Nov-2004 04:55
A relationship, Nut, is when you put two things together and compare, contrast, or relate them to each other. An incongruous relationship would be when those two things are out of synch with each other, at odds with each other, look strange or out of place with each other. What incongruities do you see in this picture, Nut? Your answer will define that incongruous relationship.

nut		08-Nov-2004 04:29
What is the meaning of an incongruous relationship?

Phil Douglis		03-Nov-2004 04:07
You say it very well, Nut.

nut		03-Nov-2004 04:03
Agreed. To see less, To think more. To think more wide and sharp then bring invisible to become more visible in its own way. And photographer is the one who do this. Afer that it's up to viewer to think and image based on your own.

Phil Douglis		02-Nov-2004 17:34
Thanks again, Nut. Abstraction plays a big role here as well. There is an invisible wall between human and human. Invisibility is part of the abstraction process. What we don't see is as important as what we see.

Phil Douglis		02-Nov-2004 17:22
Nice title, Nut -- Symmetrical Ignore! I like it. And I agree with your conclusion here.

nut		02-Nov-2004 13:46
Phil, you broungt the invisible wall between human and human here, in your reflection. An abstract incongruity with strong hit on my head.

nut		02-Nov-2004 09:34
Symmetrical ignore. It doesn't matter how many the handbills giver is, the result is none.

Phil Douglis		21-Oct-2004 23:25
Good eye, Jen. Once again you comment on a picture that deliberately breaks a "rule" of composition to make its point. The duality of the real vs. reflected woman and her unresponsive "customers" is vividly defined by the "half and half" image, just as I did in my shot of the Spire athttp://www.pbase.com/pnd1/image/33921368, as as you already commented on, my guy watching shot athttp://www.pbase.com/pnd1/image/33919653. Your observation on the tightness of that street (so common in China and Hong Kong, right?) is also important because it defines that "no place to hide" issue that must make this job so terribly frustrating.

Jennifer Zhou		20-Oct-2004 09:35
As I looking through this gallery, my eyes were drawed by this picture. I thought first it was not a good composition by cutting the picture in the middle. But I believe you must have a reason. And yes, I am amazed by you again!! The reflection made the point much stronger, and either to stand in the shoes of that young woman or people passing by, your are telling a good story efficiently. I also notice this is a very narrow street, people have no where to hide from these handbills and that woman standing against the wall---she has no better choice neither only have to face all the ignorences everyday to earn a living..It is indeed a frustration about life! Jen

Phil Douglis		16-Jul-2004 18:03
I conceived this image as a statement on frustration -- I put the viewer in the shoes of this young woman who is being paid for a thankless task. How demeaning it must be to have people ignore you all day! And now you turn the tables by looking at it from the viewpoint of the wary, even disgusted, people who are having handbills thrust in their faces. Yes, there can be two sides to a picture, and your comment proves it.

Tim May		16-Jul-2004 17:17
There is also for me a sense of the connectedness of humanity in this image as shown in the facial expression of the woman in the blue top. The look of wariness and almost disgust reflect how I sometimes feel at having flyers thrust in my path.

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