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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Two: Travel Incongruities > Giants, Phoenix, Arizona, 2003
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28-MAY-2003

Giants, Phoenix, Arizona, 2003

The saguaro cactus, the single most famous plant we have here in Arizona, can grow as high as 66 feet. Its branches are shaped liked candelabra, and every May those branches sport a crown of blossoms. These branches are from a single saguaro that is growing only a few hundred feet from my home. It is centuries old, and I wanted to stress its growth and scale in an incongruous way. I place the afternoon sun directly behind one of its blossoming branches to create a halo effect. I use a low vantage point and shoot almost straight up into the heart of the cactus, making its branches seem more massive at the bottom than at the top. The sun abstracts the huge branches, stressing the blossoms, which are splayed like giant hands on each branch. This saguaro almost seems human, a giant gleefully celebrating life.

Canon PowerShot G2
1/640s f/5.6 at 7.0mm full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis15-Aug-2008 21:52
Thanks, Endre --they do appear to have their eyes on us.
endre novak15-Aug-2008 21:25
giants looking down at you.
Phil Douglis04-Jul-2006 18:17
Not almost surreal, Emi. I intended it to BE surreal. And I am glad you comment on the use of negative space here, which often goes unnoticed by the eye, yet it is essential to meaning. I see the "human figure" you mention, slivers of blue sky, being assaulted by the giant cacti.
Guest 04-Jul-2006 10:03
It looks almost an surreal image to me. These cacti are like giants talking and maybe planning how to rule over the world? Whereas the negative space they created is like the back of a human being ( look like hips and legs). The gesture of that "human being" is kinda weird, looks like he or she is being pushed by some unknown force and cant really control his or her body.

Emi
Phil Douglis20-May-2006 05:14
Thanks, Celia, for appreciating the incongruities here. The blossoms, vantage point, and subtle body detail carry the day here. This big cactus is only a short walk from my house, so when you come to shoot with me here in Phoenix eventually, it will still be there for you to shoot as well. These cacti are hundreds of years old.
Cecilia Lim19-May-2006 21:03
I love your vantage point - it really does help to stress their hugeness and create a sense of awe for these old and resilient cacti. I also love the lighting here which gives us some details but also keeps them ambiguously dark enough to abstract them into human-like forms. The blossoms look much like hair on a head to me, and the cactus on the right resembles much like a man - with the right peak as his shoulder and next to it his head of sprouting hair, looking down on us.
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