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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery One: Travel Abstractions -- Unlimited Thought > Bell Tower, St. Francis Cathedral, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2005
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16-JUL-2005

Bell Tower, St. Francis Cathedral, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2005

I distill this image of a bell tower down to the interplay of early morning light and shadow, creating a series of geometric shapes in the process. This image does not attempt to describe the appearance of the bell tower itself. Rather it gives us a sense of its age, its strength, and the glowing arrow pointing upwards symbolizes the upward thrust of the tower itself, without actually showing it. Whenever I abstract a subject to this degree, I am asked how viewers will “know” what the subject is. Since description is not my purpose here, but rather expression, it is not important to me to help viewers see the appearance of the subject. The caption that comes along with this image (and most images intended for public display do carry captions) can provide such context, while the image itself is free to enter the imagination of the viewer, where it can do its work well.

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Phil Douglis13-Sep-2006 18:54
What a beautiful association, Jenene. I had not thought of this house of worship as a representation of nature, but now that you speak of the lighted area here as metaphorical canyon walls recording the history of the earth, I can appreciate the reference. Thank you.
JSWaters13-Sep-2006 18:45
This reminds me so much of the canyon walls I love, where different layers of rock run wildly through a slice, turning every which way at the whim of nature, recording a history of the earth through time. How appropriate, then, that this is a house of worship -I feel the same reverance at the glories of nature that the faithful must feel entering this cathedral.
Jenene
Phil Douglis07-Jul-2006 21:55
I love your interpretation of this image, Annie. The possibilities here are infinite. You have given your imagination free reign to build your own story out of my abstract picture of light and shadow falling on part of a church's bell tower. You see the metaphor of hope here, and that is really the function of faith, isn't it? You underscore the connection between the bell tower itself, which was built to express faith both in its architecture and its use, and my image, which uses light to do the same thing. Thank you for your thoughts -- they add great dimension to what I was trying to express here.
Annie J07-Jul-2006 21:38
To me this one suggests being in "darkness", perhaps depressed, you are stuck in the depths...yet if you look up, there is a "glimmer of hope", a "golden ray", "light at the end of the tunnel", whatever you want to call it, that gives hope and gives you something to reach for, to climb up out of the depths for, emerge from the darkness and despair that has been surrounding you.
Phil Douglis22-Jul-2005 18:03
What you have said here, Rodney, is perhaps the most important realization you can have as a photographer. You must define your own motivation and purpose for making images. If you are trying to spell everything out in your pictures, you leave less room for the imagination of the viewer to work on the image. You are offering them description. On the other hand, if you want make people "feel" and "think" on their own about the meaning of a photography, you must come to see photography as an expressive, rather than a descriptive process. And abstraction is one of the three principles that can help you create expressive images.
Guest 22-Jul-2005 14:24
Hmm. I appreciate your commentary as much as the photo, especially the last 3 sentences. It answers a basic question I always had about abstract forms: the purpose of them is 'expression' not description. I tend to loose sight of this in my photos. Often I try to spell out everything with the photo, rather than allowing it to just make people 'feel' and think about the overall scene.
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