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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Four: Finding meaning in details > Water Buffalo, Khong Island, Laos, 2005
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29-JAN-2005

Water Buffalo, Khong Island, Laos, 2005

The water buffalo is an essential farming tool along the Mekong. Here we meet one face-to-face and nose-to-nose. Thankfully, it was grazing on the other side of a fence. It is domesticated – the rope through the nose tells us this. My long lens brings us very close, close enough to see intimate detail we may have not been familiar with before. This is one of the greatest assets of photographic detail. It can take us places we may have never visited, such as the snout of water buffalo! I made sure to photograph it with only one horn and one ear showing. The rest remains hidden behind that gnarled old tree trunk. It’s almost as if this buffalo is trying to hide. It takes a confrontational position, yet won’t quite come all the way out to truly face us down.

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Phil Douglis24-Nov-2005 17:21
Thanks, Loren, for these comments. I hope that images such as this can stimulate thinking in my viewers, and apparently it has done just that for you.
Guest 24-Nov-2005 06:44
the photo captures the warmth of the hide and the meek nature of the animal is suggested through that also, I suppose....every one of them that I have ever met was very nearly introverted...though I suppose the nature of hormones alters that at times, and their reactions may field some instinctive defensiveness for the sake of the impregnated and nursing cow against the now-gone predator cats of yore...
Phil Douglis23-Apr-2005 19:05
Thanks for both of these comments, Ruth. And for concentrating on the role of the tree here as detail. It does suggest submissiveness. Your interpretation of the eyes is important as well because it changes the meaning of this picture entirely for me. I did say this buffalo was trying to hide from us, but now I know why. Aside from peeking out from behind that tree, the detail of those sad eyes and rope through the nose do indeed express a poignant flow of human values: forgiveness, freedom, submissiveness, meekness, skepticism, all are implied here.
ruthemily23-Apr-2005 12:56
his hiding behind the tree also suggests, to me at least, a strong sense of meekness. timid, submissive, skeptical of you as yet another human being who could potentially do more damage.
ruthemily23-Apr-2005 12:54
i only see a total LACK of power. i see such sadness in those eyes, a begging for release. it's like he is looking at you questioning what on earth he did so wrong to have a wire stuck through his nose and attached around a tree trunk. this image is over-flowing with human values. i just want to go and give the thing a big hug! he really does have such sad eyes that beg for forgiveness. this is a truely touching photo, Phil.
Phil Douglis26-Mar-2005 06:22
Thanks for another wonderful comment, Benchang. Your linkage of the expression on the face of this buffalo with the look on the child's face athttp://www.pbase.com/pnd1/image/31311864 , is fascinating. You are right - this image also offers implied human values. For example, my friend Tim May's comment about power being at the root of this image, can also justify its appearance in my human values gallery. Like many of my images, this picture succeeds as expression on a number of levels, and could function very nicely as an example in various galleries. That's because so many different factors can go into making it work. Bewilderment and Power are both human values, and both are present here. Yet it is the thrusting of the viewer's face into the detail of this image that really makes those values come through, and that is why I place it here among my examples of images that find their meaning in their details.
Benchang Tang 26-Mar-2005 03:27
The buffalo stares at me and that bewildered look somehow remands me of the look from the Chinese boy who stares at his grandma when she is praying in the temple. The buffalo is staring at a stranger from another land, clicking on something. This picture can well be shared with the gallery on human values, in my humble view, Phil.
Phil Douglis10-Mar-2005 23:13
Do you know anyone who was formerly a buffalo? if so, watch out! Thanks, Clara, for the suggestion.
Guest 10-Mar-2005 17:28
The law of karma (action and consequence) teaches, in Buddhist texts, that human beings can get rebirth as animals (among another 5 realms of conditioned existence). Probably, this buffalo will get rebirth as human next life, he seems very much aware of the viewer, maybe he was human before and now is just balancing his past deeds...
Phil Douglis07-Mar-2005 20:11
I agree that this confrontation implies neutralized power. The rope through the nose is a brutal reminder who is really in charge here. Thanks, Tim, for making this observation. Details such as these can truly tell a story. Your own galleries prove this over and over again.
Tim May07-Mar-2005 18:22
This picture, for me is about power. There is power in the eyes - I agree with Mo - the buffalo seems to be saying "Don't mess with me." But it is also so much more. There is a deeper layer going on here for me. But the most dramatic interplay of power for me is the interplay in the lines created by the horn and the rope through the nose. This animal has power built into its physiology. It's eyes and horns say don't mess with me - but it has been domesticated. It has a rope through its nose! Humans have gained control.
monique jansen27-Feb-2005 09:06
This is the essential "in your face" buffalo, it says "don't you mess with me mister".
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