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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Sixty Eight: A city portrait -- impressions of New York > A last pull, New York City, New York, 2009
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18-SEP-2009

A last pull, New York City, New York, 2009

The entrances to New York City’ office buildings are usually crowded with smokers taking a last pull on a cigarette before going back to work. I abstract this smoker down to just the front half of his head, an arm, and a creased hand grasping the filter between the thumb and forefinger. We are left with a flash of cuff, one closed eye and a lifetime of smoking, all of it squeezed between unyielding pillars of marble.

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Phil Douglis27-Oct-2009 20:01
Thanks, Pete and Kathy, for your comments. The closed eyes are very important -- he shuts the world out as he savors his smoke, but at the same time creates a metaphor for denial.
Kathy Khuner25-Oct-2009 16:31
His closed eyes give the message that he is deeply feeling and enjoying the inhaled smoke and also that he blocks out the world so he does not see the consequences of his smoking.
Pete Hemington13-Oct-2009 18:36
Great capture - I don't smoke, but this shows the smokers paradox brilliantly (i.e. hate doing but can't give up).
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