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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Two: Travel Incongruities > Urban golf, Houston Street, New York City, 2006
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07-AUG-2006

Urban golf, Houston Street, New York City, 2006

This image offers us a triple dose of incongruous juxtapositions. The head of a famous golfer fills two stories of an apartment building. She emerges from the top of a flowering tree, and gazes into mysteriously sealed windows. By isolating these juxtapositions within the frame of my camera, I take all of these elements out of their normal context, creating an image that is ultimately more surreal than real. Scale incongruity, subject incongruity, and contextual incongruity run simultaneously through this image. The head is part of a billboard promoting an upcoming tournament featuring Annika Sorenstam, the most successful performer in women’s golf. I cropped out all the words, and most of Sorenstam along with them. I moved my vantage point so her head pops out of the tree that fills the lower right hand corner of the frame. All of which leaves half the image for context – an array of closed windows. Sorenstam, who was probably pondering a tricky putt when the golfing image was made, seems to be thinking more about what might lie within those mysterious windows, and less about putting the ball into the hole.

Leica D-Lux 2
1/400s f/5.6 at 25.2mm iso100 full exif

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Phil Douglis26-Jul-2007 22:34
Hi, Daniel,

I am glad you are shooting with those three key principles in mind. Like any new skill, it takes time and practice to use such concepts fluidly and instinctively. It will come with time -- it always does. You can still react spontaneously to situations, but you will find that your spontaneity will be informed by your experience.
Guest 26-Jul-2007 21:05
While I liked this image a lot the first time I took a look, in my eyes, it was lifted to a new level after reading the comments. To me, many of your images seem fragmented at first, but in the end, you manage to work everything together so incredibly well. I spent some time taking photos last week, and I kept your three tenets (incongruity, abstraction, and human values) in mind. However, the whole time I kept feeling like I was forcing all my images to fit that model and didn't spotaneously create images. Perhaps it just takes time and practice.
Phil Douglis09-Sep-2006 18:44
Thanks, Chris -- those windows do make a statement about life in New York City. There are a lot of people and not much space, so even a small apartment like these can be very expensive. The people who live in them are not poor -- if they were, they could not afford to live here in Greenwich Village. You are right about the mood -- the walls are dark and dingy, while the woman who looks upon them is very famous and wealthy. So there is a story there, right?
Chris Sofopoulos09-Sep-2006 17:11
I really love this image. It is one of my favourites in this series! Great juxtaposition between the girl and the windows of the building. Most of all I like the mood and atmosphere that is created by the walls of the building and by the windows that are so close each other. It makes me think how much close and how much far are the people that live in these appartments or how poor they are and how many stories are hiding behind these windows. All these things are under the eyes of this girl looking and thinking.
A very strong image in my opinion.
Phil Douglis24-Aug-2006 18:00
Your observation is well taken, Rodney. The advertisers give no thought to how the content of an ad relates to the building that displays it. But you do, and I think anyone who looks at my picture will. That's because I use my camera to isolate and juxtapose that famous face upon the grimy, worn face of everyday New York. The people who live here have no say on what goes on outside their windows. The landlords are paid well by the advertiser, but their tenants will not see any of that money. I wonder if they even know or care what is just outside their windows. Thanks for making us look at this image from another point of view, Rodney.
Guest 24-Aug-2006 13:35
This photo's use of incongruous juxtaposition speaks to me of two worlds most big cities contain: the worlds of the "haves" and the "have-nots". It's so ironic this advertisement is placed in what seems, to me, to be a neighborhood where most would not be able to afford to play the game of golf. Looking at the building and its dirty walls and rusty pipes speak of people living day by day, paycheck to paycheck. The photo tells me the advertisers do not take into consideration those who live there; they just want a a space for their huge picture, so the "haves" can see it, from a comfortable distance away the plight so close by, yet ignored.
Phil Douglis22-Aug-2006 23:07
Yes, we could look at this image as if Annika was somewhat skeptical of the whole idea here. On the other hand,
she is a professional athlete, and she earns her living by winning golf tournaments and appearing in ads. I don't think she is quite ready to bit the hand that feeds her.
JSWaters22-Aug-2006 19:45
I can't help but equate this image to the ridiculously exhalted stature our society often gives to celebrities. Annika looks as if the very thought is distasteful to her as well.
Jenene
Phil Douglis18-Aug-2006 18:30
Once again, you ask good questions, Ai Li. When is more less and less more? It all comes down to our intentions. If I had introduced more here -- specifically a person in a window as Jen was dreaming about -- it would be no less or no more effective as a expression. But it would have been an entirely different experience, point, and idea. I show less than that here, and also have effective expression, by telling an entirely different story. The huge figure pays homage to the empty windows here. In Jen's hypothetical image, the huge figure brings a tribute to a lonely soul. Which is better? Neither. Just different. You are right, however, if the extra element proves to be a superfluous distraction. If, for example there was another advertisement on the other side of the windows, the image would pull in two different directions, and no matter what our intentions, the eye and mind of the viewer would become confused and exhausted. Hope this will shed some light on the issue for you, Ai Li.
AL18-Aug-2006 08:43
From the thumbnail, I also thought of her holding a bouquet, looking kind of sad, and waiting to offer it to something on the left that I couldn't figure out. Now that I opened the image and read all the comments, it's once again proven how well your pictures make us think, relate and imagine. And no matter how fragmented it may first appear, there's always some traces and links that tie everything in. Always well thought and purposeful. I'm glad that Jen wisely pointed out about introducing additional element, as it perhaps becomes a timing or opportunity issue. Agree, a human element will tell a different interesting story. But if it's other conflicting element, more may become less. Does it make any sense? :-)
Phil Douglis16-Aug-2006 22:45
Yes, Jen, a person at one of those windows would have changed everything and created still another juxtaposition. Just seeing a tiny figure contrasted to the titanic image of Sorenstam would have created immense scale incongruity and also said much about the gulf between the celebrated and the ignored. I could have waited all day, Jen, for someone to show up in a window. On the other hand, I might have just missed that very shot you are thinking of here. I think that as photographers, we have to take whatever we can get and then make the most of the moment we have with it.
Jennifer Zhou16-Aug-2006 09:30
Jeffrey and Jude all had a great insight. I learned so much from them and you, such as making a photo like this, how to link the elements together so that it wouldn't be fragmented.. I think this picture is full of posibilities like those little windows. Talking about windows, I was kind of hoping to see someone comes up to the window and looks out from there. Will that be a differnt message?
Phil Douglis15-Aug-2006 20:05
Thanks, Jude, for this comment. By describing the tree top as Annika's bouquet, you make me see my image with new eyes. She does indeed look as if she is trying to figure out which box to plant the tree in. She no longer seems as concerned what is going on within those mysterious windows. The juxtaposition of the huge Annika and the building remains as incongruous as ever. But you have added another incongruous juxtaposition -- a tree as a bouquet for that huge Annika. Thank you.
Jude Marion15-Aug-2006 13:41
I noticed the connection between the tree top and plants in the window boxes as well. I almost looks like Annika is holding a bouguet of tree tops that she is looking to plant in one of those window boxes, but none are empty, so she is pondering her next move. I quite like the incongruity of scale here ...
Phil Douglis13-Aug-2006 19:38
Hi, Jeffrey -- I see you found my latest images. Thanks for pointing out how the flower boxes in the windows link to the tree and tie the image together. I was a bit worried about fragmentation myself. When I first looked at it, it felt like I was looking at two pictures side by side. But as I looked closer, I saw the tree overlapping the windows at the bottom and now you point out the tie-in with the tree and the flower boxes. Thanks for the insight.
Guest 13-Aug-2006 18:55
This is very incongruous indeed. But what I really like is how the flower boxes in the windows harmonize with the tree, and to a lesser extent they both tie into the grass background behind Sorenstam. This helps bind the image together-- so it's incongruous, but still cohesive. Otherwise it might seem _too_ fragmented.
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