"100 Greatest Railroad Photos"

It seems appropriate to say a few things about the Trains magazine special issue "100 Greatest Railroad Photos." By nature I get irritated by hype of all sorts, and while Trains has been an important venue in the hobby, it is of course ridiculous to choose the top 100 but restrict the selection to those shots. I'll try to let that go. :)

My tastes in shots differ significantly, however, as does my definition of greatest. I am not particularly interested in historical impact, for example. So, while I respect the work of Lucius Beebe and the efforts earlier in RR photography history to orient the hobby away from roster shots, today I look at the shot on page 4 and I see a boring steam wedgie. Just think of how far we've come since then!

Many of the shots are not especially artistic but rather document the industry. They are good photographs, and as documentation of a changing industry is central to the photographic efforts of many, some will consider them great photographs, but they don't interest me here. One such example is the GP-30 shot on page 69. I love the GP-30 but this shot doesn't move me; the framing is conventional, the detail sparse due to darkness, and the worker not particularly engaged in the scene. Another example is the shot spread across pages 70-71 of the M&IR articulated. It is framed competently and having the train on bridge over another track is of some interest but ultimately this is a roster shot of an elevated engine and, while a grand engine it is!, the shot doesn't do much for me as a photograph. No matter, others will enjoy those more and some of my favorites less.

So, the intro is done; what shots are particularly compelling, at least to this observer's eye? I start on page 10 with John Gruber's backlit steamer with the dazzling white fringe on the darkplume and the backlit engine framed in white steam. So nice! (For those of you equally taken by the night Morant's curve shot on the previous page, I simply don't much care for light streak shots, although here the moonlighting, to coin a meaning, is really interesting.)

The spread on pages 18-19 of the Mojave at dusk is really nice, great textures, different shadings of the dominant color, and the trains spread out everywhere, with a lumpy hill in the middleground adding visual contrast. Beautiful, Mark Hemphill! The Greg McDonnell plow and tree across pages 22 and 23 is nice but a bit dark and a bit too formless on the right side to be really compelling, despite the action; I prefer the Lew Ableidinger shots I features a few months ago.

Moving from the "Action" section to the "Icons" section, the issue leads with the tremendous Steinheimer shot (page 28) of the hand and stopwatch. What a hand! What an interesting hand, what work it has done! Page 32 has a fascinating view of the observation car on the 20th Century Limited, by Don Wood, with much to think about in terms of lifestyle and travel. Wonderfully framed.

The page 34-35 spread pacing a warbonnet is very nice; the background holds enough detail to convey context, and catching the engineer looking back at his train adds a nice reverse touch to the dominant left to right movement. By Linn Westcott.

The "under the car" shot by J. Parker Lamb on page 39 is very nice; the engine, the boy on the bicycle, the repeated framework under the roof, but I am turned off by the proximity of the camera to the nearby rail and the unusual appearance of that rail, sunk a bit below ground level or below the level of some sort of surface with a rough edge. The bottom foreground just takes too much attention. (There is a later "under the cars" shot which is really great.)

The final shot here that really captures my attention is the winter depot shot by Mel Patrick, pages 42-43. Foreground passengers in silhouette, middleground passengers and conductor lit, great textures in the stonework, steam coming off the train from the heating system. It is interesting that the people are disengaged from the train, despite some carrying suitcases. Where are they coming from, and going to?

I've only reviewed two out of five sections! I'll blog about the rest soon, and go back and write about how these images relate to those I view today, and some reactions to those images that don't meet my personal "greatest" standard.

My comments continue in Part II.

[Sorry for not having blogged for a while. Big push at work. I'll try to do better. J]