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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Thirty-Five: How style and interpretation combine as expression > Deco contrast, Haynes, Arizona, 2006
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20-MAY-2006

Deco contrast, Haynes, Arizona, 2006

My photographic style often draws its character from the incongruities I find along the way. An incongruity can be as small as contrasting the gleaming chrome decorating this hood and grille, to the rusted body of this vintage vehicle. Once again, my deep appreciation of the past informs my style – my vantage point stresses the Art Deco lines of both chrome and car. Deco is one of my favorite design motifs – probably because I was born when Art Deco was at its height in the mid 1930s. I can still remember the Deco curves of my father’s Chrysler, and my parent’s sleekly designed chrome Deco cocktail shaker. As I said in the introduction, we are what we photograph, and we photograph what we are. My style often generates nostalgic associations. The rust here implies the lost past. Yet the nostalgic memory of that past – the shining chrome -- still glitters in our imaginations. The car may be inert, but the presence of a thin, jagged strip of blue sky at the right hand edge of the picture implies that a rusted car with such sparkle may well rise from the dead.

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Phil Douglis30-May-2006 20:45
Your matchless substantive comment is much appreciated as usual, Celia. You echo the other comments I've received and also add new layers of meaning to my picture. I love how you interpret the jagged wood at the right hand edge. Some would have me crop it out, I'm sure, but I saw a ray of hope over there, while you see it as a metaphor for the car's struggle to survive its dysfunctional condition. I'll gladly take either of those meanings. Thanks, too, for emphasizing the role of incongruity here, and for spelling out the human values that come through for you here.
Cecilia Lim30-May-2006 18:45
This is a very powerful image about pride and the unwillingness to let go. It appears that this car is still hanging on to its glamorous past, refusing to give in to ageing or the effects of the environment. I also like your crop with the jagged black & blue edge. I don't see that as a sign of hope, but rather, for me it functions as context to show us how dysfunctional, imperfect and ugly the the car's "world" is and how hard it has to fight to remain beautiful in that world. In other words it adds to the sense of struggle that the car faces. You have an incredible eye for detail Phil, and for bringing to life ordinary mundane things. You've personified this abandoned rusty car and now it has a personality and a voice! You've shown us time and time again how effective incongruity is as expression in photography because it almost never fails to provoke our emotion or thought. And this time you've made us think about pride, vanity, glory and difficulties about accepting change. It's really a metaphor for life, at least for some of us.
Phil Douglis25-May-2006 05:50
I don't think of my images as sentimental, Xin. I think any sentiment you find here comes from within you, rather than from me. I am not a sentimental person, so my photographic style is unlikely to reflect it. You are most likely more sentimental than I am, Xin, and I invite you to take this image into your heart as well as your imagination, and react to it emotionally as well as intellectually. What you have made of this image delights me. It shows me that my interpretation can stir the heart as well as the mind. Thank you, Xin, for telling me why.
Sheena Xin Liu25-May-2006 05:23
Phil, this is my favorite. It is a very sentimental image. I like the superb juxtaposition of the rusty body and strikingly shining chrome. The luminance does suggest the remembrance of the radiant old times, yet the aging is cruel and inevitable.
Phil Douglis24-May-2006 22:26
I think it is wonderful that you and Tim feel the same way about this image. You both value compassion, wit, and hope. And you both often express it by making large ideas out of small things. (Compare your photo athttp://www.pbase.com/jswaters/image/59893492, with his athttp://www.pbase.com/mityam/image/40377917 )
You are both Californians, too -- it would be an adventure to shoot with both of you at the same time! Thanks for this comment -- you have both illuminated this image for me.
JSWaters24-May-2006 22:13
I can't get Tim's description out of my head long enough to react differently. It's as if I'm watching the ancient high society doyenne dripping with sparkling jewelry ready to make her entrance to the party.
Phil Douglis24-May-2006 01:50
I love the way you ascribe human values to an old car. But you are right -- auto designers do personify emotion and personality when they create cars. Some growl, some smile, and yes, some are smug. As in Art Deco. If I've made you think, wonder, or feel with this image, Tim, I've expressed myself effectively here. Thanks.
Tim May24-May-2006 01:29
I like this image - don't get me wrong - but as I look deeper into I come to the word "smugness". I hadn't though of that word in relation to the era of Art Deco, but I think the style evokes a sense of control, of belief that the world is ours to conquer - I know that this was the middle of the depression and a sense of hope and control were necessary. I this case the see the lower chrome decoration as a lip on the smug faced vehicle plunging through time. As I stated earlier - this is not the only way I view this image, just one way.
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