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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Nine: Composition -- putting it together > Walking the Alfama, Lisbon, Portugal, 2004
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05-SEP-2004

Walking the Alfama, Lisbon, Portugal, 2004

The Alfama was once the entire Moorish city of Lisbon -- a warren of tiny, twisting streets wrapped around a hillside below the Citadel of St. George. Today's Alfama is one of Lisbon's most picturesque neighborhoods. No Moorish houses remain, but the quarter retains its Kasbah-like layout. Compact houses such as these line its steep cobblestone streets –walking the Alfama is like walking through time. And that is what I am trying to imply with this image. I want you to walk with me, explore with me, acquiring a sense of place as you walk those cobblestones. Every picture should a focal point – an area that draws the eye. As soon as I saw the warm, nostalgic color of that house on the corner, I knew I had found the focal point for this image. I organized this picture around the contrast between the light and shadow, as well as between the brown cobblestones and the reddish house on the corner. I back away, framing the picture to follow the flow of the four posts lining the sidewalk on the right side of the picture. They lead us from the shadows into the light, and then into the shadows again. The tops of the last two posts reach up and point to the house itself, inviting us to walk through that door and into history. The house offers more than just lovely color. It glows softly. The sun has bounced off the windows of a house across the street from it, casting their reflections upon the wall of the reddish house. These reflections are important. Just as those posts pull our eyes towards that reddish house, the reflections of those windows continue the flow of light through this picture. Our eyes move from the bright cobblestones into the dark shadows, and then up to the glowing window reflections on the wall of the reddish house. Another factor at work in my composition is the curve of the curb. It plays a pivotal role in leading the eye through the picture and to the red house. Meanwhile, the repeating patterns of the cobblestone street create a matrix of geometric shapes that are echoed by the tiles on the roof of the house. I was fully conscious of all of these factors as I composed this image. I took about five or six versions of it, each from a different vantage point. This is the one that worked the best.

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Phil Douglis09-May-2006 06:09
There are many ways to compose an image effectively. Your idea works. So does mine. Each for different reasons. If everyone composed an image the same way, photography would be a predictable form of expression. I built this image around the curving street that draws the eye into the scene. If I were to compose it your way, the curve would lose the dark background which now gives it much of its implied energy. However I do think your approach would also work, but for a different reason. It would, as you say, give more power and prominence to the red house. As for the stop sign, it was there in my version, and would still be there in yours. I do not agree that it is a distraction -- it blends nicely into the dark house, and echoes the rhythms of the shorter poles. Thanks for this contribution, lsc -- it shows us that there are many ways to compose an image successfully. Each us, hopefully, will compose our images thoughtfully, yet differently.
Guest 09-May-2006 03:01
Phil; I like it very much. But if the right half (dark side) takes less than 50% of the whole area and the red house will appear more in depth as well as the path. also, my eyes will not be distracted by the "STOP Sign" (the tallest pole). have you tried one like that? lsc
Phil Douglis17-Apr-2006 07:27
You are right, Marc. Those reflected windows were fascinating to me as well.
Marc Gemis 12-Apr-2006 19:46
What I also find interesting in this picture are the "windows" in the reddish house formed by the reflections of the windows of the house on the right. They give you an idea of what is around the corner, without revealing too much.
Phil Douglis17-Apr-2005 22:25
Thanks for taking that walk with me, Ruth. I think you can now see the importance of composition. Not as a set of arbitrary camera club rules. But rather as a road map for the eye as it journeys through a picture. Composition is organization, a means to an end. Not an end in itself.
ruthemily17-Apr-2005 21:59
the light on the cobbles is like an arrow, leading your eye into the picture (from the bottom right, which is where our eye naturally enters a photo, having been taught to read from left to right) to the sign, up the pole to the black square, which reflects the shape and tone of the door, window and sign on the wall of the house. your eye then rests here and explores the play of light on the house wall itself.
Phil Douglis31-Mar-2005 17:20
Sometimes we like certain images because they instinctively seem right to us. We may not be able to explain it, but we feel it. That is what you are telling me here, Benchang. What you are sensing is my particular organizational style at work. You've seen it in my other images and you see it expressed here as well. I explained my reasons for composing this image as I did in my caption. Essentially, I am working with color, light, and shadow to guide the viewer's eye and walk with them into time itself. As I said in the caption, I made at least six different versions of this image, and this is the one that most expressively arranged those "organic patches" you sense here.
Benchang Tang 31-Mar-2005 14:23
This one is also my favorite. In this one I notice again there are four organic patches. There are patches and parts in the lotus picture, the mountain and road picture, and in this one. I all like htem very much and don't know why, Phil.
Phil Douglis01-Dec-2004 06:34
There will always be problems composing a shot when you are hemmed in on a street, Anna. Instead of trying to force a subject into a composition, look for subjects that are already virtually composed for you, such as this one was. It just took about five shots to get it right.
Anna Yu01-Dec-2004 04:27
Yes, a working composition is one of the hardest things to achieve (for me that is). I find that one a street you can't move anywhere you want to and no matter what you do it just doesn't work. If only photographers have wings....
Phil Douglis01-Dec-2004 00:29
Thanks, Anna. It takes time to understand that seeing light is not only a matter of noting the interplay of light and shadow, but also the role that reflectance plays in the process. As you say, you have to make it work as a composition, and it took me five or six shots from different positions to get it to flow together in this manner.
The lesson here is to remember to LOOK for reflections and then organize into the core of your idea.
Anna Yu26-Nov-2004 05:03
It could fit in the Color gallery too. The road leads the eye to the warm red wall with the light reflected from the building across the street. How many times my eyes have been drawn to this phenomenon, but I never seem to get a good picture of it. Perhaps because of difficulty getting a good composition. Great shot, good lesson here.
Guest 25-Sep-2004 17:11
The lighting here is beautiful - the way it brings out the warm colors, yet still reveals detail in the shadows. Your discussion of composition with intent to lead the eye is very very interesting (and successful!).
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