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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Thirty-Five: How style and interpretation combine as expression > Heart of the machine, Oak Creek Canyon, Sedona, Arizona, 2006
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03-MAY-2006

Heart of the machine, Oak Creek Canyon, Sedona, Arizona, 2006

Another characteristic of my photographic style is the use of vantage point to abstract the subject, showing only a small part of it to represent the whole. I abstract an abandoned vintage tractor by emphasizing only part of its engine, instead of the whole machine. The engine was at the tractor’s heart, and now it is stilled forever. Because I abstract the tractor in this way, it becomes more of a symbol and less of a descriptive fact. That, too, is part of my style – interpreting the subject for my viewers by using symbolism, is at the core of how I see and photograph.

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1/30s f/3.7 at 78.7mm iso80 full exif

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Phil Douglis29-Nov-2006 18:15
You are very perceptive, Jen -- you do use black and white as a powerful abstracting tool, which is fine if color has little to do with what you are trying to express. But whenever color itself can express an idea more effectively, you might be better served by using the dynamics of color as the basis of your idea. The question of using either black and white or color must be answered on a case by case basis. There are no fixed rules or methods here. Reread the introductions to both my color gallery and my black and white gallery for more ideas on this topic.
Jennifer Zhou29-Nov-2006 05:29
I think I found the answer on your caption of this image:http://www.pbase.com/image/60677406

I feel I depend on "the abstracting power of B&W" too much... that my eyes become insensitive to colors..
Jennifer Zhou29-Nov-2006 03:20
Good question from Mikel, and great answer from you. I got another question Phil, the photographic style you are using here is to use vantage point abstracting the subject making it a more like a symbol, but do you think the machine would be more symbolized if the picture is in B&W?
Phil Douglis24-May-2006 00:07
This old tractor is parked in an orchard. I had to shoot it through a barbed wire fence, using full telephoto at 420mm from waist level. The long lens crops into the image to abstract it. The vantage point comes into play in terms of distance, not angle. It is straight on. I could not get closer because of the barbed wire, but the lens gave me a closeup "optical" vantage point.
Guest 23-May-2006 23:20
Rusty dogi peace of metal, it realy brings you back to the industrialization era of the begginings of the 1900's. I don't know how someone that wold not have known it whas a motor wold react, a pitie is that when I saw it I identified it directly as for what it is... well perhaps not all the way unless it is a 60's tractor. ;)
What perhaps I don't notice much in this picture is the ventage point, the abstraction is evident by croping the sorroundings and so but without a clear perspective that shows me a ventage point it is difficult to recognize if you did it on the stairs or on the ground for saying it in some way.
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