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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twelve: Using color to express ideas > Shipwreck at the End of the World, Ushuaia, Argentina, 2004
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11-JAN-2004

Shipwreck at the End of the World, Ushuaia, Argentina, 2004

Ushuaia at the southernmost tip of Argentina, the southernmost city in the world, is often described as at “Fin del Mundo” – the End of the World. The gateway to Antarctica, Ushuaia’s beaches on the Beagle Channel are littered with wrecked ships, which, for one reason or another, have never been removed. I moved very close to one of them to stress the peeling paint, and the incongruity of its optimistic once-bold primary colors. The fading, peeling colors are the most important parts of this picture, an abstract symbol of nature’s wrath which so heavily affects Ushuaia, one of the most remote places on earth.

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Phil Douglis24-Jun-2005 19:54
Thanks, Garo, for your point of view on this image. Your words amplify my point that expressive images can act on the imagination of the viewer, allowing each of them to make the image into whatever they wish to make of it. The photo itself is a trigger to thought, a beginning, rather than an end in itself. Thank you for your thoughts.
Guest 16-Jun-2005 13:33
Hi Phil,
I was reading your comments on pbase for a while now, and want to thank you for making your knowledge an experience available virtually to anyone on the Web. I am learning many things from your teachings.
I'd like to share with you how I perceive this photo. I am from Armenia so my perception should be different from other from the US... So I thought it might be interesting to you and other readers.
So, my first thought here was about time and human being. In other words--the elderly with their wounds both physical and psychological (cracks and nails), with their 'today' and the smile of life still on their face (the bright yellow diagonal) with their memories (the upper-right horizontals), unsecure tomorrow (the downfalling verticals in the lower-left), and their hope for the Heaven and their children's future (blue spots).
Once again, thank you, Phil for all the philosophy and art you are sharing and teaching.
Garo Gendimian
Phil Douglis06-Dec-2004 00:45
Thanks, Diana. Glad you like the way this image works. Some times the most beautiful colors are those that have seen a lot of wear and tear. (Just like us!)
Guest 06-Dec-2004 00:32
Gorgeous image, Phil. Love the color, the texture, the lines.
Phil Douglis01-Dec-2004 00:50
Thanks, Vera, for this comment. Glad you enjoyed the texture and colors of this old boat. I checked out your link and I see the similarity you mention. I think the biggest difference between them is that you are expressing joy in form, and I am expressing the essence of a very special place at the end of the earth as we know it.

I wish I could have used your suggestion about relating this old boat to other shipwrecks, but this was the only wreck that was actually on the beach I visited. (The other shipwrecks mentioned in the caption were strewn along many miles of other beaches along the Beagle Channel.)
Guest 26-Nov-2004 05:55
Phil, quite a while ago I also made a photo of peeling paint on my neighbour's fencehttp://www.pbase.com/veruschka/image/23407528 . While very curious about how many layers of paint had been painted over the years, I made the shot and viewed it essentially for its colour and texture. Despite the peeling paint, I was too overwhelmed by the pleasure brought by these two features to feel the 'blue' of inevitable aging and all that. Similarly, in this shot of yours, I am also immensely attracted by all the colours and the texture. The colours might even be much more bold before, but here they still look very vivid to me. Even after reading from your caption that it's part of an abandoned old ship, I can't imagine it being a wrecked ship that is sitting among others in a lonely and remote place. You've mentioned the presence of all the other ships -- in my opinion the sentiment of nature's wrath is more effectively shown if you zoom out and include the other ships too. Or exhibit this image side-by-side with one with all the other deserted ships. What do you think? Vera.
Piotr Siejka10-Jun-2004 19:03
Stunning photo, Phil.
Guest 25-Mar-2004 05:12
The colors and the texture are a joy to look at but if not for your caption, I would not have known that this is a part of an old ship.
Phil Douglis13-Mar-2004 22:00
Once again, I thank you, Kaja, for leaving this comment. Glad the old paint makes you happy, and that is part of what I was trying to say here. Once these colors were clean, new, and optimistic but the storms of Patagonia have left their imprint on them over time. I agree -- there is still a haunting beauty in this flaking, faded paint from another time. But these faded colors also help give Patagonia a sense of place to me. The pioneer spirit still burns brightly here at the end of the world, in spite of nature's fury.
Guest 13-Mar-2004 08:06
This is just wonderful and it
makes me just happy looking at
it! (Even if it´s just old paint :-)

Regards
Kaja Lund
Phil Douglis05-Feb-2004 21:25
Thanks, Don -- I loved the contrasting colors and the texture, which speaks volumes about the winds and waters at the end of the world.
Don Northup04-Feb-2004 22:51
Cool shot here. cheers
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