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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty Two: Black and white travel photography – making less into more > Barred Entry, Yangon, Myanmar, 2005
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Barred Entry, Yangon, Myanmar, 2005

Most of the people I saw on the busy streets of Yangon seemed relatively relaxed. This woman, however, looking out at me from within this caged doorway, seemed to be an exception. Is she concerned about her own safety and property, or is she being restrained within that entryway?

The color version of this image can be seen in my Myanmar travel article posted at http://www.worldisround.com/articles/139134/photo22.html . The warm sun dominates that image, making it seem as she is looking out at us from behind a protective gate. She sees to feel safe in there, at least for the moment.

When I converted it to black and white, the meaning of the picture seemed to change significantly, at least for me. The colors of sunlight have vanished. In their place, the shadows of the bars, particularly those moving across her face, are emphasized. She formerly seemed to watch us. Now we seem to watch her. Is she free to come and go? Or otherwise? Our imaginations must supply the answers. Such is the power of black and white abstraction. It has turned a street scene into a question mark.


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Phil Douglis20-Apr-2006 16:55
Thanks, Echo, for coming to this image. It is one of those pictures that has lot to say to all of us -- a journalistic image that falls in the lap of a travel photographer who keeps his eyes open. I welcome you back to my galleries -- it has been awhile, Hope I can be of help to you regarding that progress.
Guest 20-Apr-2006 06:38
I like this pic. found a lot words here and in her eyes.

sorry Phil, i missed you again. had great time in china? sometimes i cant imagine i have spent so much time on work. sometimes i am thinking of throwing my camera away since i get no time for it. otherwise i might have make photos take up too much of my sleeping time..

anyway, i still keep my hobby and dont think i will give it up. just worry about the very little progress...

best wishes,
Echo
Phil Douglis07-May-2005 00:00
Effective expressive image ask questions of the viewer and demand answers. I think this is one of those pictures. You are using your imagination to put yourself inside of this cage, seeing her as someone trying to free you, but in vain. I find this a remarkable interpretation because it shows us easy it is to turn an image entirely around on ourselves if we wish to do so. Few of us would ever even think of it. You are the first to do this to one of my images, Ruth. I consider it a huge compliment. I was not conscious of this potential effect when I made the image. I saw her as looking at me from behind bars -- prompting me to wonder if she was there by choice or not. Now that you have turned it entirely around, it becomes a far more profound image to me. Thanks to you, I will be looking at similar subjects in a whole new way.
ruthemily06-May-2005 20:12
this is one of those photographs that can be read in two polar opposite ways. either she is trapped behind those bars, or she is outside, looking in at something else that is trapped. of course, for that second meaning to be true would imply that you were caged up and she was looking in on you, but that is how i see it.
the sharp contrast in light and shadow suggests the former imterpretation, of the lady being behind the bars and trapped, looking out into the light. despite all this, i still can't help but see it as me as the viewer being trapped, and her looking in in despair, wondering how she can help to free me.
i like both the colour and the black and white versions but you are right in saying that the meaning changes. the black and white presents a much harsher reality, it totally changes the mood of the photo when you drain it of colour and energetic sunlight.
i find her watch incongruous.
Phil Douglis30-Mar-2005 20:53
You are right, Guy. The black and white version brings more symbolism to the picture. The blacks and whites and grays are much more confining than the color tones were.
Guy Dube30-Mar-2005 05:48
Phil,
In b&w, the shadows are very important, the contrast. Here we feel really she is in jail, with the black in the background of her and the wide bars in the front give all the punch to the image.
Guy
Phil Douglis02-Mar-2005 21:20
Yes, it was. I have answers for this image, either. Only questions. I looked up, saw her looking through those bars, and made the picture. The rest of the story is rests in each our imaginations and hearts. This image is intended purely as a catalyst to thought. The black and white version here is stark, simple, and unaffected by the nuances of color.
monique jansen02-Mar-2005 09:57
This image is open for all kinds of interpretations and it leaves us with questions, which is your intention.
Phil Douglis28-Feb-2005 04:59
No photograph is truth. All photographs require interpretation by a viewer. And often, how we interpret an image says as much about us as about the subject. I am sure this image will generate a lot of different interpretations, in both the black and white and color versions. I agree with you final comment -- the entire truth is elusive and often non-existent. That's because truth is always conditioned by interpretation and context.
Guest 27-Feb-2005 18:31
My eyes wander in the color version, but here they go directly to her eyes and stay there. She looks fearful, anxious. Perhaps she is (or feels like) a priosonerin her home or place of business? In color, she merely looks bored and slightly irritated. Maybe both versions are true in a way. What we admit to ourselves, what we admit to others, at any time these are both only a portion of the entire truth.
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