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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty Two: Black and white travel photography – making less into more > Cornice heads, Cathedral of St. James, Sibenik, Croatia, 2005
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08-SEP-2005

Cornice heads, Cathedral of St. James, Sibenik, Croatia, 2005

The most memorable feature of this cathedral is a strikingly incongruous array of 71 human heads extending from the building’s cornice, all of them representing not heroes or saints or biblical figures, but instead every day 16th century people. No two are alike.
I chose to include only seven of them in this image, concentrating on the spot where two cornices joined at right angles to each other. I placed the top head in the upper left hand corner and let them flow from there down to the lower right hand corner. But one thing bothered me – the peachy tone of the church itself. The faces are gritty and intense, but the church’s exterior seemed pleasant and soft to the touch. When I converted this image to black and white, the peach colored tone vanished, and the faces no long had to compete with it. They now stare at each other with all the ferocity they can muster.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20
1/125s f/4.0 at 24.6mm iso80 full exif

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Phil Douglis11-Mar-2007 06:38
Thank you, Aloaha, for noticing how I introduce perspective or depth into my images. I try to lead the eye of my viewers into an image and then present layer upon layer of interest to draw them through. In this case, I chose a corner of the church as my working arena, which allowed me to use the geometry: the convergence of line, diagonal thrust, and upward thrust as well. It is, of course, the famous heads that give this church its renown -- and I've tried to do them justice here by removing the peachy tones of reality, and replacing them with the monochromatic grittiness of what time itself imparts to the bizarrely incongruous heads.
Aloha Diao Lavina11-Mar-2007 05:26
One of the themes I see in your work, Phil, is the presence of depth in your photographs. There is always depth, we are always inside a place where we can look around and appreciate the harmonious elements that bring us to an understanding of a message. I like how this photograph does that in the ridiculous cacophony of the belligerent heads. Their argument is louder for the black and white.
Phil Douglis24-Oct-2006 17:24
Thanks, Temption, for sharing your own vision of these very same heads with us. Your gallery is very well done, and your choice of black and white echoes my own.
Guest 24-Oct-2006 13:43
Greetings :)
Temption
http://www.pbase.com/temption/heads
Phil Douglis08-Oct-2005 00:20
I love your metaphorical meeting here, Tim. Perhaps the medieval carvers of these heads had a committee in mind when they placed them upon this church. Your observation on the real feelings lurking under false politeness is well said and quite appropriate here.
Tim May05-Oct-2005 17:34
Having served on many a committee in my day - this image shouts at me. What it symbolizes for me, by being in black and white, is the real feelings that reside under the pleasant exteriors of politeness which exist, at least at the beginning of most meeting.
Phil Douglis03-Oct-2005 17:12
The were real in color, Kal. The instant I clicked on the monochrome box in the Photoshop channel mixer window it became surreal. There is no secret formula to help us always make the right choice between black and white and color. All it takes is looking and thinking. You just click back and forth on the "preview" box in the Photoshop window and compare what you had, with what you have. Think about your purpose, your goal, the message. Which works best? And that's how you make that choice.
Kal Khogali03-Oct-2005 12:04
If walls could argue!! I wish you could record sound. This would have been real in colour and not surreal as it is in black and white. A wise choice to move the image to another level. Chosing between colour and B&W continues to be my challenge (though I am working on it). Images like this, educate us in the choice.
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