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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Ninety-Six: From the Persian Gulf to the Andaman Sea > A world turned upside down, Koh Panyee, Phang Nga Bay National Park, Phuket, Thailand, 2016
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19-DEC-2016

A world turned upside down, Koh Panyee, Phang Nga Bay National Park, Phuket, Thailand, 2016

This remote Muslim fishing village welcomes thousands of tourists each year. All guided tours to Phang Nga Bay National Park stop here to visit, eat, and buy gifts and souvenirs. I made hundreds of images during the hour we toured the village, and this one was my favorite. I saw this toddler sitting on the floor of her family’s gift shop, reading a magazine upside down. That alone is an incongruity. However as I continued to photograph this child, she began to yell at the magazine, which was even more incongruous. She is seated astride floor tiles that draw us deeply into the image. The little pigtails on either side of her head echo the position of her legs and her arms. I have no idea what she is saying to the magazine at this moment. Perhaps she is angry at it for being upside down, and does not know how to turn it around?

FujiFilm X-T1
1/160s f/4.2 at 24.3mm iso5000 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis22-Feb-2017 06:08
I loved this moment as well. It was simply a "happening." It was the only image involving a human response that I would make that day. And what a response it was.
Tim May14-Feb-2017 22:00
I love this. For me the catalog is of upmost importance - she is screaming at "beauty"
Phil Douglis04-Feb-2017 19:56
Thanks, Carol. I've always looked for spontaneity when photographing people. It was this spontaneous moment of either excitement or frustration that tells the story here, and I was fortunate enough to stay with this child long enough to get to the essence of the unfolding situation. By the time I was able to make this image, my tour group was almost out of sight
Carol E Sandgren04-Feb-2017 18:53
Images of children like this are priceless! This one really captures a sense of great frustration of the child, probably occurring frequently for her or any child at that age of discovery. I love the face especially!
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