Lew Ableidinger and the Open Spaces

Lew Ableidinger works primarily in black and white. In going through his images, I immediately took an interest in several shots from the Woodworth, ND area. I love the ways these shots convey open spaces through composition and texture.

In the first shot, "Road to Nowhere," note the unusual angle of the train. It's barely in the frame and it is already up and out of here, heading over the small hill (an effect enhanced by the road which is also going up and out). This shot does not have en expanse retreating into the distance, and for that matter the train doesn't appear small relative to its surroundings. And yet, the unusual angle, the train sitting on some sort of a ridge, the balance with the road and the tree give this somewhat odd view great appeal. It perhaps does not fit with the rest of the shots here as the "open spaces" feel is weaker and there are more elements in the frame (including the grassy textures). But I enjoy the way the subject is the road, enhanced by the tree/bush and the fencing, and one is in effect driving up to meet the train and both will subsequently make their own explorations on the other side of the ridge.

I will treat the next two shots, "The Open Country" and "Life in the Vast Lane," involving the same crossing and tree, as a pair. They are simple compositions, a train, a road, a tree (or two), and the endless plains.

The first shot of the pair is a classic scene, a road leading up to a short train. The foreground tree provides depth in front of the train and the receding plains behind, and stands on the left, balancing the light source at the right background. The plains have just enough roll to them to provide a stronger sense of distance. The combination of snow and backlight make for excellent contrasts, both at the "macro" level in terms of the tree and train and at the "micro" level in terms of the grasses in the snow. It's a peaceful, interesting scene.

Sometimes a road takes the eye in a direction, but sometimes it frames. In the second shot of the pair, it forms a diagonal that "supports" the trees and train. The two trees create an internal framing for the train, helping to keep the eye from following the road to the right. In doing so, however, the road is left as a strong triangular element; too strong for me. To me it is a large dark object, dominating the smaller tree, the train, and what is visible of the open spaces. It detracts, without itself bringing sufficient interest in terms of its texture or otherwise (unlike the road in the opening shot of this post).

The final shot, "Trains and Plains," turns out to my eye, surprisingly, to be an abstract. Compositionally, it has three elements, two of which are the lines of the train and horizon and the block of the backlit engines. The third, subtle but to me rather striking, is a curve in the sky, a bowl shape formed by variations in the light and clouds.

Complementing these simple elements are restrained variations in light and texture. The fine granularity of the grasses poking through the snow fades into a formless sky with diffuse changes in light across the frame. The land has just enough roll to the land to convey a greater sense of depth. The light does not radiate but rather glows in an odd, foggy/hazy manner, with only a partial sense of the direction of light. The black, backlit power enters the frame from the left (presumably), proving a dominant element, but to me, participating in the scene as an equal party rather than being the focus of it.

I think of this shot as being conceptually equivalent to a pastel picture; just as pastels tend to have subdued colors, this image has subdued compositional elements and light, but the overall effect conveys an interesting glow and a strong, uplifting, almost spiritual sense or presence.

Recently I've been absorbing David Plowden's recent tome, which has a number of non-RR shots of this type. The present of a train makes Lew's shots more accessible to me, because they draw a contrast between the small train and the large space, a contrast enhanced by my knowledge that the train is actually large. And yet, the trains don't necessarily appear small in these pictures; it is not that the trains become smaller when faces with these expanses, but that the expanses appear timeless, permanent, as the train temporarily occupies part of the space.