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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty Four: The Workplace -- essence of a culture > Carpenter, Shuhe, China, 2006
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31-MAR-2006

Carpenter, Shuhe, China, 2006

Shuhe is a Naxi village just outside of Lijiang. Its craftsmen work the wood just as they always have -- by hand. The early morning light striking the stone wall in the background has allowed me to put my subject into shadow, abstracting him so that we see shape rather than detail. I used my multiple image option, holding down the shutter button to fire a series of three frame bursts. One of them stopped the axe at a diagonal angle, complementing the three sets of crossed diagonals elsewhere in the image.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30
1/400s f/5.6 at 60.3mm iso80 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis09-Apr-2007 21:58
Thanks, Ken. This image is all about contrasts: directional flow, the nature of light, movement, texture, and scale, are all juxtaposed here.
Ken Zaret09-Apr-2007 20:52
great shot, the bright wall provides excellent diagonal contrast with the foreground. lovely image
Phil Douglis23-Apr-2006 04:26
Man as statue. Timeless. And that is part of what I was saying here, Christine. He swings an axe before a stone wall, a figure out of the Bronze Age.
Guest 23-Apr-2006 04:01
The subject in shadow worked well, your camera made a statue of this man.
Christine
Phil Douglis19-Apr-2006 00:21
Minimalist is a good word for this image, Carol. I keep it as simple as I can, just as this carpenter approaches his job in a timeless, minimalist fashion.
Carol E Sandgren18-Apr-2006 18:32
The silhouette of this man is perfect for emphasizing his labor! The shape of his ax and his stance tell it all. We don't need any more details to understand the story. The minimalist approach works so well here!
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