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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Nine: Composition -- putting it together > Cat of La Boca, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2002
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29-DEC-2002

Cat of La Boca, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2002

Good luck comes to those who work at it. After shooting several hundred digital images in La Boca, a Buenos Aires waterfront neighborhood known for its colorful buildings, I was on my way back to our bus when a black cat ran in front of me and took a perfect position on a multi-colored fence in front of a multi-colored building. However, I had to do a bit more than just get the cat in the frame and take the picture. I wanted to relate the cat to its context as strongly as possible so I moved my camera position until I was able to create this double diagonal flow of energy through the picture. The line of the cat's back runs on the diagonal. And the green, blue, and orange painted structures create a diagonal series of steps through this picture as well. This little exercise in organization provided one of my favorite pictures of Buenos Aires. So much for that "Black Cat" myth.

Canon PowerShot G2
1/125s f/4.0 at 21.0mm full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Guest 14-Mar-2005 11:44
great picture!
Phil Douglis10-Nov-2004 19:53
Zebra, you are very perceptive. Color plays a major part in expressing meaning here. The cat is colorless and becomes incongruous when compared to the green, blue and orange here. Note how the green picks up the color of branches to envelop the cat. The blue portion of the wall picks up the color of the blue building. And as you note, the orange (it might read as red on your monitor, but it is really orange) provides the most striking contrast to the cat, and does, indeed, make a strong visual connection to it. The message here for me rests in the overall display of rich color around a subject that has absolutely none of it.
Guest 10-Nov-2004 18:40
Phil,you are a master in color.The red connects with the black cat,and the whole image is controled by kinds of blue and green.Not only form but also contents are perfect.
Phil Douglis16-Aug-2004 04:31
Thanks, Bruce. This cat has led a charmed life. I returned to the Boca this past January, and saw it again -- still hanging around that colorful fence. But no shot this time -- he wasn't willing to cooperate. Strange pattern of responses here, too. Denise left a nice note a year ago, and then nothing until this week when both Henk and you weighed in within a few days of each other. Henk liked the shot too, but wished for texture in cat. You and I, on the other hand, prefer the silhouette. And so it goes -- everyone has their own preferences, but in the end, its the photographer who makes the decisions.
Guest 15-Aug-2004 03:17
Strong shapes, strong colors, and the silhouette of a feline - it all adds up to a delightful photograph. Made me smile!
Phil Douglis03-Aug-2004 19:45
People look at photographs with varying tastes and preconceptions. I like abstraction. You may not agree with my abstract interpretation of this cat. And so we agree to disagree, Henk. I feel that sometimes we don't need to use texture and detail to make our point -- here it is the form of the cat and the colors providing its context that carry the story.
oochappan03-Aug-2004 18:54
I know I am very prejudiced as I don't like black and white or sepia, calling them 'gravediggers' too often abused to hide the lack of good colors, only by graphical approaches I applaude them. Good colors and composition you got here alright, again putting an animal above mankind like the dog but I really miss the texture of the cat here.
Phil Douglis01-Sep-2003 19:45
Denise, you are making my day! Thank you for giving this shot your accolade. (I guess black cats can be lucky.) Enjoy looking at my images full size -- that's another advantage Pbase offers. The richness and fullness you sense in my images comes from always keeping in mind how foreground, middleground, and background information can work together to express an idea. Perspective control, or "layering" meaning from front to back, can also bring an implied third dimension to this two dimensional medium. That too, adds up to a sense of fullness. Every part of the picture has a job to do.
Denise Dee01-Sep-2003 15:20
i voted for this image, as well as the gallery. love this one. yours are some of the only photos i've looked at full screen (large) on Pbase, they are so rich and full. thanks, denise
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