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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty Four: The Workplace -- essence of a culture > No urgency, Kiev, Ukraine, 2009
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19-OCT-2009

No urgency, Kiev, Ukraine, 2009

I was drawn to the fruity colors on the poster on this refreshment stand and then saw the woman staring at me out of that door, looking as if she had eternity on her hands. And then I saw the sign – she is most likely a rest room attendant. And when there are no customers, she seems to have little but time on her hands. It is an image of a workplace where the work is yet to come.

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Phil Douglis06-Nov-2009 19:04
Thanks, Sofia, for taking the time to comment on this picture and for confirming the fact that this woman stands in a rest room. I will have to go check out your own "eternity-holder" image of the Volgograd rest room attendant. I am glad that I asked you, as a Russian photographer and as a professional translator, to confirm the context for this image.
Guest 06-Nov-2009 09:32
Hello Phil, and thank you for inviting me to your new gallery! Yes, you are completely right about your guess, this word means "toilet". You know, these attendants are all the same in the world. I have just the same eternity-holder pic of a similar lady taken in Volgograd. Same expression! well taken candid, congrats!
Phil Douglis05-Nov-2009 22:57
Yes, I know what you mean, Celia. The sound of running water can indeed stimulate the urge to find a toilet. I guess that's why some call them Water Closets? And yes, it is ironic that, if indeed this woman is a restroom attendant, she seems so relaxed. I think she has just finished opening the place --I watched her doing a lot of preparation work. The refreshment stand is set in a park-like environment, an oasis of calm amidst the turbulence of Kiev traffic.
Cecilia Lim05-Nov-2009 19:49
Is that really a toilet? The ripeness of fruit and splashing of water seem to suggest so... if you know what I mean! She certainly has no urgency right now but I am sure she must have witnessed many people rushing to her in great "urgency" during her work! Love the colours. And the feel with all the shrubbery and foliage is very "Garden of Eden-esque" - a paradise and a place to "sin"...
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