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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Ninety: 101 ways to interpret Bolivia > Professional mourner, General Cemetery, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
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06-MAY-2014

Professional mourner, General Cemetery, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014

This woman mourns near a tomb at Sucre’s General Cemetery. She is one of the many “professional mourners” hired by others to move from tomb to tomb, honoring the memory of those who rest within them. I photographed this mourner by reflecting her in a tomb’s glass window. The reflection adds a spiritual suggestion to my interpretation. I intensify that suggestion by processing the image as a black and white abstraction.

FujiFilm X-M1
1/350s f/9.0 at 113.8mm iso800 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis22-Jul-2014 21:43
Thanks, Vera. It is always amazing to me how simply by converting a color image to black and white, we can easily create a quite different mood. The atmosphere here becomes charged with grief as colors vanish and black and white tonalities replace this woman's green dress and green sweater. The warm browns of the bench are replaced by an almost charred black surface. Thanks for your comment.
veraferia21-Jul-2014 10:46
Beautiful B&W work. Reflects so well the atmosphere.
Phil Douglis20-Jul-2014 23:35
I agree, Iris. The image is sad, and that sadness is also intensified by my decision to convert this image to black and white.
Iris Maybloom (irislm)19-Jul-2014 01:45
How interesting! She plays her role well, as there is a profound sadness in this image.
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