A winter evening in Nancy
This photo-essay brings you in Nancy (France) for a walk during a snowstorm. You are going to discover railroad installations but also realize how the storm grew in intensity.
I don’t plan this essay to be a journalist related work. It is more my personal vision of a special event in my home town. Misko Kranjec’s recent work inspired me a lot. I choose to process my pictures in black and white. By doing this, I’m placing my picture away from the Space and Time flow. They could have been made anywhere at any time. The main actor of my essay if the snow storm, growing and affecting the railway and its world. The black and white processing also enhance the graphics of the picture. A train is just a train (as symbol) and no more a BB 27000 class locomotive and a manifest!
One picture and its story -02
02 – Railroads’ roots
Date : March 2006
Place : Quebec Province, Canada
Subject : lonely freight cars under the snow
I’m not going to explain in this essay how life brought me to North America, it would take too long! Since my first visit there however, my photographic skills have improved considerably. That part of the planet brings out the creativity in a lot of people. It is probably the change in living habits and the unfamiliar surroundings that pushed me towards taking different types of pictures and to renew my vision and style as well.
Trip after trip, I slowly discovered the North American continent, its geography, its history and the role that railroads played in the growth of both Canada and USA. I learned many things about the history of many small companies that not longer exist. I realized that the tracks were trails of the pioneers, and the trains that ran over them were the life-blood of the newly born civilization.
Over the years, I became more familiar with North American culture. My vision of North American Railroads changed as well. One day, when driving from Quebec City to Halifax, I came across a small branch line in the middle of a forest. I stopped and observed these lonely cars. The sky was gray and a light snow was falling. I imagined the flat cars were awaiting the arrival of a distant locomotive, one that would bring them to their next destination … certainly the foundation of Railroading. Suddenly, I realized that it was just the same over one hundred years ago, when fresh tracks were shaping a new continent: North America.
The hidden museum
Impressions
Dirty little details
Derailment in Dalarna
A train driver perspective
One picture and its story -01
01 – Breaking the rules
Date : June 2006
Place : Lyle, Washington State, United States of America
Subject : An American freight train
This picture had to be the first of the series. For the first time, I was breaking the rules. For the first time, I had moved away from the classical “three quarter wedgie”.
I had been taking classical shots since the 90s. I kept taking them because they were the only one accepted by the railfan magazines. Most of their readers are modelers with a need for the details that reproduce the Railroad life. Year after year, article after article, I mastered this style.
Life brought me to North America at a time when I was beginning to get bored with taking classic pictures. In this vast young continent, I discovered new visions of Railroad Photography. My vision of Railroad photography was forever changed.
Today’s picture is the first one that I planned to take differently. The subject is a BNSF freight train. The shape and colours of the locomotives make the identification of the locomotives easy: SD40-2s. The sun and landscape were both in the right place to take a great classic shot. I purposely focused on the grass in the foreground however, blurring the train, placing it out of focus, giving the reader’s mind an opportunity to imagine the details of the scene. You can easily understand why I chose this picture to be the first of the series.
Magazine – Volume 03
[Download the volume number 03] 21 pages : 25.3 Mo :
Kristof De Veirman – A free photographer
Meet Kristof de Veirman, a Belgian photographer and founder of the Underground Train Movement. He talks about his vision on Railroad Photography. Also discover a day of railfaning with him on the railway line that link Toul to Dijon (East of France). [more to read...]
An empty place
During a trip in Luxembourg, Vincent MENDRET was able to visit the locomotive shops. He discovered an empty place. His story shows this mysterious building with pictures.
This will be a simple photo-essay. I am going to describe my visit to the roundhouses of the Chemins de Fer du Luxembourg (Luxembourg State Railways, CFL). It happened a Saturday morning. I went to an office and talked with a worker. I had to sign a paper. This was the key to open the door to this mysterious place!
This place was full with locomotives but nobody was there. These were summer holidays and the day was part of a week-end. This probably explained the human beings’ absence. Weekdays are busier. Sometimes, I stopped to imagine the workers’ moves, their gestures…
