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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty Four: The Workplace -- essence of a culture > Fish Table, Morning Market, Vientiane, Laos, 2005
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25-JAN-2005

Fish Table, Morning Market, Vientiane, Laos, 2005

The people who sell fish here are confident and proud of their product and their service. I could feel it in how they stood at that table as I photographed. While this may be a group environmental portrait, it is also a workplace picture, because you see them as their customers see them – ready to sell them fresh fish of their choice. Sometimes a workplace shot can take the measure of a person and of a society. I think this is one of those images. Laotians are not only kind and open; they are resolute and tough as well. When you photograph people at work, you can learn a lot about them, as well as the society they represent.

Canon PowerShot G6
1/100s f/3.2 at 7.2mm full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis16-Jun-2007 05:52
They ooze confidence and control. By all means, Sun Han, get thee to Laos. It is a marvelous land.
Guest 16-Jun-2007 05:27
those cool women made me feel good, i want to go laos
Phil Douglis28-Jul-2005 19:17
Thanks for calling attention to the lady in the back of this picture, Anna. She could well be the boss, who remains in the background, but somehow seems to be a controlling presence framed, as you say, between the other two women, the final layer of meaning in this image.
Anna Yu28-Jul-2005 07:08
I like the wide angle perspective and the lady in the back seems to be the most important person in the picture, everything else framing her.
Phil Douglis04-Mar-2005 03:17
I enjoy your characterization of these fish, Celia. You start them out dead, yet in the end, they are beaming. I do see your point, however. The fish are the stars of this picture. Without them on this table, there is little else a wideangle lens can offer us here. I was thrilled to find these fish in this spot, all lined up for sale, heads still intact and facing my lens. This is a layered workplace image, linking the fish in the foreground layer to the two women in the middle ground layer, to the lone woman and the back of the market building in the background layer. You are right. Joy, pride, confidence, are all here in this environmental portrait made possible by those wonderful wideangle distortions that emphasize the fish and stress the illusion of depth.
Cecilia Lim03-Mar-2005 16:51
Dead fish at the marketplace may not be the most attractive thing. But by accentuating their size and outward forward position, you so effectively express to us that this product is indeed the pride and joy of these fish sellers. The wide-angle lens does cause wonderful distortions that stress the angle and perspective of things, adding a more dynamic feel to an image. And this is a wonderful example of how it can be used to express meaning. Beaming fish and beaming faces! These people find joy in the humblest of work.
Phil Douglis02-Mar-2005 23:56
I pushed my 24mm wideangle converter right into the snouts of those fish. That's what makes them seem to jump off the screen you. That's wideangle barrel distortion at work. Don't let anyone ever tell you that wideangle distortion is bad or wrong, Mo. Look at the emphasis it gives us in this image. The fish not only jump out at us, but they also pull us into the image, leading our eyes right to the people who sell them with such great pride.
monique jansen02-Mar-2005 12:27
You managed to capture the pride in these people very well Phil. And more, the fish seem to jump right of the screen at you as well.
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