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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Two: Travel Incongruities > Leafy call, Place du Petit Sablon, Brussels, Belgium, 2005
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08-JUN-2005

Leafy call, Place du Petit Sablon, Brussels, Belgium, 2005

Almost hidden in the dense foliage surrounding the intimate grounds of this lovely Brussels park is a fellow on a cell phone. I noticed that he held his left hand in the identical position of the marble gentleman who peeks out at us from behind a tree. They may come from different times, yet share a common posture. The interplay of gestures between a man of stone and a real person is incongruous. The scale of the statue and the expanse of leaves compared to the size of the man are also incongruous. And finally, the sight of a gentleman wearing a suit and tie peeking out at us from a mass of foliage is also incongruous. He listens and talks with intensity. It seems as if all of those leaves are listening intently as well.

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Phil Douglis19-Jun-2006 22:30
You are welcome, Brian. I enjoy your interpretation very much. I saw the statue as a figure of stone from another time pretending that it does not notice what is going on right next to it, yet incredibly it repeats the human's hand gesture. If that is a conspiracy, I'll take it. Glad this image helps define incongruity for you. It certainly does that for me.
Guest 19-Jun-2006 22:17
This is incredible... this shot captures my attention, and then as I relax and listen to my unconscious mind, it strikes me that the man seems to have been searching through the undergrowth... and has an urgency with his cell-phone to report what he has found, the statue seems to be part of the conspiracy! as it is part obscured behind the leaves... another haunting image. I feel that I am beginning to recognise the essence of inconguity through this series. Thank you Phil!
Phil Douglis20-Aug-2005 22:36
Thanks, Ramma, for these observations. I had not really noticed the fact that the statue looks as if it is in exile, along with the man on the phone who is almost hiding in those bushes, nor did I note the incongruity regarding the hair or lack of it. You have added a new dimension to this image for me.
Ramma 20-Aug-2005 18:59
This is a very interesting image. At first glance it seems as if the 2 men are similar but on closer inspection one realizes that there is a lot of difference between the 2 of them such as the clothes , making them look as they come from different centuries. Secondly the man using the cell phone seems to have distanced himself from others for the want of privacy, while the statue looks as if he has been exiled from a gathering he wishes to attend or be part of, which is why he is standing behind a tree with a facial expression that almost denotes Longing... and on a humorous note, the statue seems to have a scalp full of hair, while the man using the cell phone has none..
Phil Douglis09-Aug-2005 16:25
Thanks, Dandan, for making the point about the man being an old statue who has come to life and is trying out this confounding new technology. You are really letting your imagination work on this one, and that was my intention.
Guest 09-Aug-2005 10:30
The man seems coming out of nowhere, the mimic position to the statue make me feel like he is the statue came to life…and experiencing the nowadays new technology…
Phil Douglis06-Jul-2005 17:12
Thanks, Kal. The link to the statue is critical here. Not only does the statue and the man hold their right hands up close to their bodies in the same way, but I definitely get the feeling that the statue seems to be listening to this caller as well. Both also seem to hiding in vegetation, which relates them in three separately incongruous ways.
Kal Khogali06-Jul-2005 13:42
I like this one too Phil. He looks as though he has popped in to that corner of a huge expanse of leaves for a moment of privacy. Only the statue hears what he has to say. In terms of composition, that large area of overhanging leaves frames him perfectly, it is immediately clear who the subject of this image is, and the link with the statue offers context.
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