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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Two: Travel Incongruities > Tattoos new and used, Seligman, Arizona, 2006
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12-JUL-2006

Tattoos new and used, Seligman, Arizona, 2006

Nobody buys cars in Seligman any more. This auto dealership has become a tattoo parlor, serving the bikers that often rumble along what is left of the abandoned Route 66. I was drawn to the scene by the incongruous juxtaposition of words -- both the old and the new.
To those willing to study details, there is still more incongruity awaiting them. The window sign itself becomes a pun, offering both “Tat” and “Toos.” A small collage of faceless bodies demonstrate the skills of the staff, and the prominent “Now Open” sign is contradicted by a padlock on the door.

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Phil Douglis06-May-2018 21:25
One of the most difficult challenges in expressive photography is moving from literal depiction to personal interpretation. We are hard wired to see and think literally, Merri. To view things as symbols and metaphors, to abstract things and thereby remove explanatory context, to interpret things by imposing your own ideas upon them, are not easy tasks. In this case, I was drawn to this scene by the incongruous relationship of the signage left by the former renter of this space to the signs promoting the services of the current business. However both the photographer and the viewer has to be willing to "read" the old and new signage as one sign, not as separate ones, in order to "get" this picture.
Merri 06-May-2018 08:20
I lean heavily towards taking things literally at first glance. I thought: "new and used tattoos? how does that work?" Then I read the description and "got" it, but found a funny bit of incongruity with the thought that the photos of actual tattoos on the window were perhaps a depiction of those "used tattoos" for sale :-D
Phil Douglis21-Jan-2010 16:00
Glad you saw the humorous context added to this picture by the "new and used" sign. (It probably refers to a previous ownership.)
Guest 01-Jan-2010 23:43
This is hilarious! I wonder if you get a discount for a used tattoo...would that discount be translated into cash or just less pain during the process... And i like the pad lock on the door while there is a big sign claiming the tattoo parlor to be open..This gives me some inspiration to go out and look at some of the old stores around where i live. Many of them have there old signs left. I wonder if i can find some similar incongruities if i look around...
Phil Douglis23-Aug-2006 19:39
I hesitate to even think of Norman Rockwell's appraisal, Sam. Not are we offered new and used tatoos, but they are "Old School Tatoos," no less!
Sam Bliss23-Aug-2006 19:31
New and used tatoos? Curiouser and curiouser...
I would like to know what Norman Rockwell would have thought of this image.
Phil Douglis30-Jul-2006 18:27
Thanks, Kuan, for this observation. Hopper has certainly influenced my imagery. You can also see it in my shot of a bartender athttp://www.pbase.com/pnd1/image/43986719 -- I mention him in my caption. This is a desolate image, made all the more so by incongruity of the "now open" sign contrasted to the padlocked door and the empty chairs. Glad to be help to you, Kuan - keep studying, commenting, and practicing.
Guest 30-Jul-2006 08:41
Phil, this photo reminds me of Edward Hopper’s paintings. His is an American painter who stressed the theme of loneliness in urban landscape setting. I see the same quality here through the subject matters you use in this photo—empty chairs imply absence of man, an abandoned feeling from the weathered wall, and exaggerated Pop Art imagery on the window. All convey a mood of loneliness and desolation. I don’t know if you feel the same way.
Your works are always rich in contents and full of surprises. I am just an amateur who often struggle with what should be included in the frame and what should left out. Hopefully I can improve that through your works.
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