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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Eight: Light and shadow shape meaning > Race to the future, Phoenix, Arizona, 2006
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10-MAY-2006

Race to the future, Phoenix, Arizona, 2006

Darkness can convey the mystery of the unknown. But so can brightness. I photographed a number of cars speeding through an underpass in the heart of downtown Phoenix. The underpass ends in a blaze of over-exposure, burning out all of the pixels in that area of the picture. Photographic purists view burnout – the loss of all pixel detail -- as an exposure mistake. But as an expressive photographer, I deliberately use burnout here to symbolize meaning. In this instance, burnout provides a metaphor for what lies ahead of this car that appears to be racing towards the future: a dazzlingly bright, unknown destination. I heighten the illusion of speed by using a slow shutter speed that blurs the car, stretching its tail lights into red streaks. I use a wideangle lens in a wide format camera to extend that blur and hasten this car towards its destination. The long railing and facing wall of arches also accelerate its headlong rush towards the blazing hole at the end of the tunnel.

Leica D-Lux 2
1/15s f/2.8 at 6.3mm iso80 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis05-Nov-2006 19:06
From a tunnel in downtown Phoenix to Ceci's final transition -- what a creative leap! I am thrilled, as always, when my viewers make such a leap. The metaphors created by movement, confined space, stairs, and overpowering light are emotional, and overpowering. The absence of detail within that light is also important, because, like areas of complete darkness, it suggests the unknown. And that is what our final transition, at least as I see it, is based upon. The unknown.
Guest 05-Nov-2006 06:11
This stunning shot represents the moment of how I like to think my final transition will be, with the soul racing to be embraced and reborn into the light. The last incarnation is behind, surrounded by mankind's structures and even its darknesses, and the next state is arriving at what feels like warp speed. There are even stairs leading up and out, and the brilliant illumination seems to suck the car (and its passenger, me) along. A fantastical, beautiful shot, Phil!
Phil Douglis19-May-2006 19:52
Wonderful interpretation, Celia. You have expanded my vision here as social commentary and now that I see it in that context, I see even more interpretation. The car is ambiguously blurred -- it hurtles forward, yet its front looks much like its rear. When given your context of society blindly sweeping towards an unknown future, it seems to also look backwards as it does this, which adds an entirely new dimension of expression to the picture for me. In other words, we are rushing so fast to get ahead that we may, in fact, be also going backwards! Thanks for your wonderful insight, Celia.
Cecilia Lim19-May-2006 19:12
I love the abstract and symbolic nature of this image. Although we can see that it is a car in a tunnel, the motion blur, the bright light and shadows are ambiguous but expressive enough to reperesent different meanings to different people. For me, the sense of speed, the repetition of the windows stretching from the foreground right into the bright light and beyond, make me ponder about the way in which modern societies are heading. City life is often fast, repetitive and routined where everyone seems to strive for the same things. And now, even more and more people begin to strive for the same things and same goals as they are blindly swept along with the movement of what we call globalisation. What will become of our cultural diversity... Do people even question the fate of their own world or are they just robotically following the masses because its just the way things are done? This is a wonderfully evocative image that encourages each viewer to bring his own interpretation to it.
Phil Douglis19-May-2006 18:48
I deliberately make you an active, rather than passive observer here, Kal. I use my vantage point to create perspective that bonds the flow of the blurred car to the ever diminishing flow of the tunnel itself as it pulls both the car and our eyes to the light at the end of it. I always try to take an active rather than passive vantage point if I can, Kal. My images will be more expressive because of it.
Kal Khogali19-May-2006 15:31
Rapid and dynamic...I am drawn in to the image, not merely an observer. A real feeling. K
Phil Douglis12-May-2006 23:32
Thanks, Jenene, for making this point. My friend Tim is passionate about the environment. (Yes, he drives a Prius.) It comes as no surprise to me that he would see this image as commenting on the threat to our natural resources. Your own images are full of optimism. For you to see this image as a metaphor for seeking the most direct path out of "our tunnels of darkness" is perfectly natural. My image has given you both food for thought, which is my intention.
JSWaters12-May-2006 23:05
I can't disagree with Tim's impression if we view this image more literally. But, figuratively, aren't we always seeking the most direct path out of our tunnels of darkness. Optimism for the future drives us ever forward.
Phil Douglis12-May-2006 22:47
I called this picture "Race to the future" but did not specify the destination. The bright light could symbolize enlightenment. It could also, as you say, symbolize a barren world with fewer resources. This is one of those images that could be interpreted in many ways. I made it as a catalyst to thought -- and leave the rest to my viewers such as yourself. Thanks, Tim, for this observation.
Tim May12-May-2006 21:15
The burned out area also, for me, echos the fate of the planet - partly as a result of the car - leading us to a burned out future.
Phil Douglis12-May-2006 18:45
Thanks, Claude. An image such is this is not difficult to make. It simply means changing the way we normally think as photographers. We usually meter on the brightest part of the picture to keep detail from burning out. In this case, I thought of light at the end of the tunnel as just light and not detail, so I metered on the car instead and allowed the light to burn out all that detail and become a symbol of the future.
Guest 12-May-2006 18:08
Superb image. So well done. i wish I was able to do that.
A good inspiration.
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