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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Thirty Six: Adding or subtracting context to clarify or extend meaning > Argument, Newport, Oregon, 2006
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10-JUN-2006

Argument, Newport, Oregon, 2006

Sea lions haul out on to floating platforms in Newport’s harbor. They spend most of their time sleeping, but every now and then get into a shouting match such as this one. I was standing directly above them on a pier, and my overhead vantage point allowed me to include the floating platforms as context. These platforms are man-made, yet these animals are behaving very much as they do in natural settings. They offer an incongruous context for an incongruous activity.

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Phil Douglis21-Jun-2007 21:36
This gathering of sea lions is small compared to what is happening at San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf. I did not see it for myself on my recent visit to SF, but Tim May told me that up to a thousand sea lions now enjoy napping on platforms that have been built for them there. If we had visited Fisherman's Wharf, I would probably would have still boiled my images down to simple interactions such as this one on the Oregon coast.
Guest 21-Jun-2007 18:20
I love this picture, two behemoths engaged in what might be a noisy argument on the pier. I like the way you composed and cut it also, giving us their animated gaping pink mouths, whiskers and teeth. It's amazing to think that these sea lions have so acclimated themselves to man-made floating docks, and don't seem to be bothered by the human beings all around them.
Phil Douglis05-Jul-2006 06:17
Thanks, Mo, for commenting on the humor here -- their own comments could be heard from a block away.
monique jansen05-Jul-2006 05:41
laugh out loud funny, this one! You can imagine the conversation or argument these sea lions must be having.
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