Mime, Antwerp, Belgium, 2005 by Phil Douglis

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15-JUN-2005

Mime, Antwerp, Belgium, 2005

Just outside the Antwerp Cathedral, I found a mime posing as a "Madonna with Child" painting. This street performer has covered herself and her doll with splattered paint, and never moves either a muscle or an eyelid, even though I photographed her again and again. When I finished, I dropped a Euro into a basket at her side. Without moving her head even a fraction of an inch, she slowly extended a note of thanks, wishing me good luck. This image expresses itself through the incongruously abundant detail she has meticulously applied to her face, clothing, and doll. The only unpainted detail on her face is her lower lip, another incongruity. Meanwhile, the glittering detail on the doll’s crown brings a shocking gold, green and red counterpoint to the monochromatic balance of the image.
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(Three years after posting this image, I learned, via an email from Jonathan, a street performer in Antwerp, that the mime in this image vanished in late 2007 and was found buried outside Antwerp in May, 2008. Her name was Renata. I dedicate this image to her memory.

I quote part of Jonathan's email message below. It brings a new context to this image, which tragically changes its meaning for us forever:

"I am a street performer in Antwerp and love the picture on Pbase you made of the Madonna With Child. She was always sitting near the cathedral -- that was her regular place. Yes, I am saying she 'was'...The police found her body 2 weeks ago after she was reported missing since December 2007. Murdered and buried in a garden in a small village 30 miles out of Antwerp. The suspect is her boyfriend, but the investigation is still running. He was running some kind of cult and newspapers say that she might have been a victim of a ritual. Sounds like a screenplay of a b-movie, but sadly it's real life and not a movie. I never knew Renata (that was her name) very well, but I remember her, since I am also one of the living statues. She might not be with us anymore, but thanks to your picture she will continue living on the internet." )

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Phil Douglis		14-Jun-2016 03:43
I am so glad that you finally have come to comment upon this image, Marisa. As you can see dozens of my pbase friends over the years have left their mark upon it, and at long last you come to speak of your own feelings towards it, as well as to it's magical connection to one of your own images ( https://www.flickr.com/photos/mtaddia/27294887826/ ). Thank you so much for noting the importance of the unpainted lower lip of this street performer. (She probably left it unpainted so she could sip from her bottle of water during the long hours she sat below the sun.) However in this image her exposed lip becomes more than that. You note that she is "still human," transformed in life under heavy makeup into a silent mime, as well as transformed by her subsequent tragic death into a "living epitaph."

Marisa Taddia		13-Jun-2016 23:42
Finally, more than 10 years after you've done this photograph published here Pbase I managed to sit in front of her. no longer with the certain rejection, and even feeling of anxiety, which in turn caused me your picture. Now, with a history that made two of our pictures intertwine mysteriously (magically perhaps?) I can see the extraordinary art of the late artist. The daily dedication to complete such a detailed makeup, and so well done, speaks for itself of the silent talent in the artistic representation. However, that intentionally left bare lip is key of the photography. It shows that the statue is "still" human... Due to the tragic end, this image will remain not only as a "living" epitaph but as an eternal celebration of the artist and her art. Sometimes art push the artist to the limit...

Phil Douglis		21-Jan-2010 16:04
Thanks, Rosemarie, for this comment. This is one of my most memorable images -- considering what happened afterwards. It is also the signature photograph for my gallery on detail. Glad you find if of value

Rosemarie Kusserow		19-Jan-2010 07:52
I have to look at this picture for a long, long time and it is hard to belief the tragedy. I admire these street performers when ever I see them and this picture show a wonderful one, I admire the make up she did and what she performanced with herself and the doll with the crown, I ´m sure she performed Maria with Jesus and this makes the tragedy complete! Now to your picture, I admire the great details and fine colors and your composition, Rosemarie :o) V

Phil Douglis		10-Aug-2009 00:00
Thanks, Biel -- the message expressed by the image has dramatically changed since I made it in Antwerp just over four years ago. She is no longer simply a surreal street performer -- she has become a tragic figure as well. The image was full of emotion to begin with and now it almost hurts to look at it. Yet I still consider it among my most important images -- for what it says, and how it says it. And now it functions as her memorial, as well.

Guest		09-Aug-2009 23:44
extremly beautiful photo and so tragic history,thanks for sharing

Phil Douglis		30-May-2008 17:39
Thanks, Kal, for returning to this image three years later and seeing it in a new light following my update regarding her tragic death. I did not set out to make this image as a epitaph, but if it is to be so, at least it is an expressive one. I have always regarded this image as one of my most memorable. The few minutes I spent working on this picture of her were almost hypnotic. It was as if I was photographing someone who was at once both dead and alive. And now she is dead, yet as you note, this image will keep her alive in our memories. And that is what an epitaph should do.

Phil Douglis		30-May-2008 17:33
Thanks, Chris, for coming back to this image to comment on the updated context involving the shocking and senseless murder of this street performer. It is tragic indeed, and hard to believe, Chris. It is ironic that of all the people I've photographed for my galleries, this woman wore the heaviest and most anonymous mask of performance. Yet in her senseless death, she drops the mask and becomes, for the first time, a person rather than a performer.

Kal Khogali		30-May-2008 09:36
Very sad, sad image now. But I can not think or imagine a greater epitaph for anyone. May she rest in peace now. Thanks for the update Phil. Could not find any news of it here . K

Chris Sofopoulos		30-May-2008 06:33
So tragic... What anybody can tell.

Phil Douglis		14-Nov-2007 00:28
Thanks, Cyndy, for stopping here. I wanted the detail to shock you, much as it shocked me. And thank you, Barri, for your insightful commentary. The red lip, all that remains of the mime's humanity, does indeed mimic the red jewel in the crown of the doll. I also agree with you about the mouth -- its positions do indeed define the nature of the soul within. If the eyes are the proverbial windows into the soul, the position of the lips must be the doorway.

Barri Olson		13-Nov-2007 05:35
Phil I think this disturbing image is made more so by the one human vestige...the mouth. immediately after I saw the crown I was immediately drawn to the mouth. Think that, and where you placed it...sort of a counterbalance to the red jewel in the crown makes this even a more powerful theme to me. Words reveal the soul..I've often heard that to tell if a person is lying look at the mouth and not the eyes...and also no matter how we hide, part of us never can. This is very powerful and profound...both on her part and on yours and what you chose to emphasize. Best regards Barri

Guest		11-Nov-2007 02:18
I had no idea from the thumbnail that this was a mime. It is such a strong image. I really have to sit here awhile to sort through my thoughts.

Phil Douglis		04-May-2007 18:00
You right, Rob. I am trying to make art out of art here. The mime had done her part. She is flawless and haunting, a brilliant makeup artist as well as mime. To equal her brilliance, I must let the details here tell the story. I remove everything from my frame except those details that convey meaning. Thanks for your comment.

Robyco		04-May-2007 13:18
Well done of both !!! (V) Some of this people are so good..... it is real Art then. !!

Phil Douglis		02-Apr-2007 20:21
Thanks, Chris, for this comment. I assume that you came to it via the link I recently placed in my comment on a similar subject photographed by Argentian's Marisa Taddia athttp://www.pbase.com/mlt/image/76070582 . The street performers in both of these images are costumed, madeup, and are posing as living portraits of particular characters. They do not move or speak. They are mimes. Both Marisa and I have used our our cameras to freeze them forever in even greater stillness and silence.

Chris Sofopoulos		02-Apr-2007 15:07
Amazing photo and story Phil. I find it a very strong portrait!

Phil Douglis		19-Nov-2006 02:10
Thanks, Anna, for your view on this image. I don't see the details here as competing for attention -- I see them as equally important. The texture on the face is astonishing and shocking, thus pulling the eye. The golden crown on the head of the baby also draws attention because of both its color and incongruous placement. It symbolizes the religious nature of this tableaux. I made this image from many different perspectives, and this was the one that gives equal emphasis to both face and crown. And yes, I wanted it to shock, and to speak of both life and death simultaneously.

Anna Yu		18-Nov-2006 23:17
A most disturbing image, like a living mummie, living death. But is the crown on the doll the main subject, or the lady herself? The details are competing for attention. Don't you have another picture with a different perspective?

Phil Douglis		03-Oct-2006 06:08
Good words, Lorraine, not poor ones! Her face is shocking. And I make it more shocking by moving in to confront you intimately with these details. Thank you for seeing this.

Guest		25-Sep-2006 13:52
A shocking image...but very good. The tight crop makes this picture complete. I can not imagine seeing anything else apart from what you have left us to see. Otherwise the picture would be lacking any punch. Poor use of words for such a great picture. L.

Phil Douglis		18-May-2006 03:00
I knew exactly what you meant, and by adding those four simple words to this gallery, you reveal the true power of the details within this image to trigger deeply personal meaning within a viewer. Just as in photography, Ruthie, less can often be more.

ruthemily		18-May-2006 01:05
i'm sorry i couldn't be as wordy in my comment as previous people before me, but i knew that those 4 words would sum up what i felt when opening the thumbnail as well as any lengthy critique. and since i knew you'd know what i was meaning, it seemed futile. i really love the picture though, Phil. it says so much.

Phil Douglis		18-May-2006 00:09
A comment as startling as the image itself, Ruthie. An image such as this one can be highly symbolic, and in your own case, deeply personal. It is a sad and poignant and deeply painful comment. I had no such intentions when I made this image. But I respect the fact that my viewers will make of them whatever they will.

ruthemily		17-May-2006 23:13
my mother and i...

Phil Douglis		14-May-2006 14:45
Hi Harj. Thanks for the comment. It does not show up here because I have had to disable all comments from non pbase members due to an increase in spam messages. But I am copying your kind words and posting them below. Thanks for the comment. Phil "Hi Phil, I thought I had left a post regrading the pic but obviously I had not. This is simply an awesome shot - disturbing yes like many of the other posters have stated but it is a very powerful image and thought provoking. HarjTT"

Phil Douglis		17-Apr-2006 06:19
Thanks, Jeremy, for this comment. The actual scene is never as forceful as a carefully made photograph because our eyes take in too much and the scene is diluted by irrelevance and clutter. We must really concentrate if we are as to see as selectively as a camera can be made to see. But that’s the catch. It also takes a lot of thought and work to make a camera see selectively. But if we hone our images down to an essence, as I tried to do here, the result can be very expressive.

Jeremy		22-Mar-2006 09:45
I find this to be a very powerful, overpowering, image. When I first saw the thumbnail, I thought it was a picture of some statues. Then I saw the title of the image that it was was a mime, and the power of the image really hit me then. Even after studying the image in its original size, I wasn't sure if the child was human, but take it from your description that it's a doll and thank God for that. I wonder if I had seen the actual scene, it would be as forceful and have as much impact as it did seeing it this way through the eye of your camera. IMHO, pictures like this are what photography is about, whatever the mime artist intended to portray or convey, your photography of it has achieved the objectives well over. Rgds.

Phil Douglis		24-Sep-2005 03:27
And that's the shock here, Ramma. What begins as a dilapidated old statue comes to life in front of us.

Ramma		08-Sep-2005 16:57
whenever i saw this image, i thought it was an old statue of Mother Mary and Infant Jesus. In this image i saw how a very old and dilapidated statue , which is still being worshipped, looking at the Gold crown.

Phil Douglis		02-Aug-2005 17:04
Welcome back to this image, Zandra. I was deeply moved by what you have come to see in it, particularly your references to my own desire to peel away the layers of camouflage and get to the heart of the matter. Thank you for throwing my own questions back at me, too. I think my answer must be that this fantastically detailed makeup and costume is designed to question faith. She wears it as a facade, burying the real person deep within it. I have always been fascinated by such dualities, by the facades we mask ourselves with, by the tension between the false face and the real soul. That is why I was struck so hard by your own personal expression of this duality athttp://www.pbase.com/miinerva/image/39291680, which I think is the most thought provoking image you have ever made. The layers of abstraction in both my image and your image are plastering over reality with a facade that buries the soul underneath. This mime hides herself behind a mask of symbolic piety, yet in fact, it is also horrific, almost painful to look at. Only that little red lip coming through tells us she is real. It is the only vestige of humanity that is visible. The spattered doll, no doubt representing the baby Jesus, is just as obscured and inhuman as she has made herself. The more I look at this image, the more I see the layers of spattered paint as symbolizing petrification -- layers and layers of peeling, oozing, skin almost covering that one tiny detail of pulsing, living pink flesh underneath. Her lip. Yes, you are right. I am in search of the human here within the inhuman. And I could only find that lip to tell me she is real. Just as in your own self-portrait, Zandra, only your eyes reveal life. And even they stare back at us in blankness. Your blackened face and fan suggest mourning and the inevitability of death itself. Just as there are two Zandras in that image, there is the tension of two opposing beings here. The real, and the symbolic, the hidden and the revealed. You, too, are always in search of what lies beneath the facade, aren't you? Masks are symbols of deceit. They are lies that make us realize the truth.

Guest		02-Aug-2005 13:43
Coming back to this one Phile, to pick up wher we left off. If she was tryig to pretend that she was anoil painting and if so, should we look at this picture diffrently. I don't think so, as this picture is your intepritation of what you saw on site and my intepritation comes from what your image gives me when i look at it. My feelings towards the picture stays the same. It is about illusion and cutting down to the core underneath that illusion. You also ask "Is this fantastic costume and makeup intentionally designed to question faith or to celebrate it?" My reply back would be to ask you almost the same question. Your choise of vantage point and abstraction...is that designed to question or celerbrate faith? Or did you design this to show the viewer tat we need to look twice to see what is underneath. If so, then this becomes a lesson of life as we shoud always try and see what is underneath the surface of a being. Sometimes, the way we chose to take a picture as well as how we chose to intepriate it, tells us a lot abut ourself. So i can not help but to wonder what this image tells us about Phil. I get the feeling that Phil is the kind of man who likes to chop of the top layer and have a peek of what is underneath, who is the true person beid the surface...and this could be what you try and show us here, as well as that can be the reason for my own intepritation of it. I am not content with viewing the surface but nead a deeper meaning, or, to find th eperson behind the plaster, the mask.

Phil Douglis		28-Jul-2005 19:14
Thanks, Anna, for your comment. I agree with you about street performers. They are exaggerations, often caricatures of their subjects. And that is what gives them such an incongruous appearance. But we have to do more than just describe this incongruity with our pictures. We must go beyond and express the essence of their craft or appearance. And that is what I've tried to do here, through emphasizing this incongruity by stressing the bizarre details of her makeup and costume.

Anna Pagnacco		28-Jul-2005 02:36
A capture full with a bunch of details ... These living street statues are very interesting subjects sometimes but sometimes are too exaggerated as well but usually very colorful. Thanlk you so much for visiting my gallery ....Ciao, Anna

Phil Douglis		06-Jul-2005 17:25
Your comment about the layers of masking here is fascinating, Kal. I have had a similar conversation on this earlier with Zandra, as you can see below. The more I think about it, it seems that this mime is posing on the theme of a painted Madonna and Child from the great Rubens masterpieces that hang in the cathedral only a few feet behind her. But looking at this image from its effect on the viewer, I would agree with you that we finally work through all of these layers of artifice to find the reality in a single pink lip. I don't think she intends that lip to be tantalizing, or even tempting, but once the viewer's imagination gets involved, anything goes. As for me, I was shocked at what I first saw here. I did not see a human being until I noticed that pink lip. Everything else was illusion. The only reality was the lip that never moved.

Kal Khogali		06-Jul-2005 14:08
It took me a while to work out what it was about this image that disturbed me Phil, and it was more than just the paint. everyting about this face is unreal. Not only the lashes, and then it struck me. This is a Mask, the Masked Maddona, it is plastic, a facade, and then I realised that the Child was also a non-real face, another layer. Then I thought how strange the paint, is, why paint? Then I thought to hide the mask...a mask to hide a mask, and within all this, the inner layer, well hidden. What that inner layer is, is our choice, but I think this mime is deeper than just one layer of paint, or even two layers of mask. By giving us just enough hint of what is underneath, the lips, we are being told there is an inner layer, red and tantalising. This becomes an image about temptation to me. Perhaps even a parallel for the "Temptation of Christ".

Phil Douglis		05-Jul-2005 17:39
Hi again, Zandra. In thinking about the question I raised at the end of my last comment, it just occurred to me why this mime might have chosen to create characters covered with splattered paint. She is sitting in the plaza before the Antwerp Cathedral. That church is known for its famous religious paintings by Rubens. Perhaps she is just trying to pretend she is an oil painting of the Madonna and Child? What do you think? And if so, should that make both of us look at this image differently than before?

Phil Douglis		05-Jul-2005 17:08
It is wonderful to welcome you back to my galleries, Zandra, particularly with this comment. You see what I felt as I shot. The mime was obviously creating a character based on religious faith. Yet just as you say, at the same time she presents a false front, a facade of such startlingly incongruously detailed texture that to some may seem as much an indictment of that faith as it is an affirmation. I loved your reference to a plaster shell -- it makes us want to chip away at her to find the true believer underneath. We are left to answer the question ourselves. Is this fantastic costume and makeup intentionally designed to question faith or to celebrate it? Thanks, Zandra, for raising this question. What do you think?

Guest		05-Jul-2005 10:16
I will have to agree, this is a rather disturbing image. At first i though they were actually statues that someone had destroyed by throwing paint on them. Then when you look closer you see the flesh colouer of the lips, you notice the fake eye lashes and the fake eye brows and you realaise that this is actually a human being posing as a statues. Thumbs up for her creativity in her custome. There seem to be some kind of protest with the splashed pain, as indicating this is not he way it shoule be. Somethign is wrong. Concentrating on the fake eye lashes and other things i mentioned this makes me thing...religion is all about fake and imagination. It is all so abstract in itself that one always has ther own personal opinion about it and what it means to them. On the other hand, the paint reminds me of plaster, something which i want to breake though to see what is under teh surface. First impressions are not always what they seem and sometimes we need to look deeper to find the true meaning or the true person. I think thatis mostly what this images tells me, that we need to breake though the shell we are wearing to find the deeper meaning, both in religion as well as in people.

Phil Douglis		02-Jul-2005 20:27
I felt the same ambiguity, Mo. I feel the same way about much religious art, with its emphasis on suffering and anguish. I find the ambiguity serves the image well. The woman under the paint is human yet has made herself appear utterly inhuman. The spatters of paint symbolize desecration, yet the subject is obviously intended to reflect veneration. This image could just as well be posted in my new "contradictions" gallery, yet the detail is so astonishing here that I've made it the representative image for this entire details gallery.

monique jansen		02-Jul-2005 14:09
An almost disturbing image, as you are not immediately aware what you are looking at, it has the feel of a shrouded woman with associations of death, religion, misery.

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