Geometry in Iron

Repeating shapes always make for interesting visual exercises, and this is mid-Victorian ironwork—Brunel’s masterpiece, Paddington Station, in London. After booking into my hotel on Sunday, October 31^st, 2010, I walked back round to the station to play with imagery, and this one was taken from a footbridge spanning the tracks. In the 1850s (Paddington opened in 1854), British railway engineering was a boom industry, and cast iron was the masterstroke of the age, making possible shapes and sizes of structure previously unknown. Here, thousands of tons of iron create an airy, arched pavilion large enough to accommodate the smoke of steam trains without choking the commuters, and to this day it is one of the busiest railway terminals in London. A simple shot, it took advantage of the topography, creating an almost organic feel. Minor enhancement only—just contrast and colour. Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike

 

19th Century Landscape

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This image is an excellent contrast to my last photo from the Esk Valley Railway. That time the lighting, the cleanliness of the window and the angle on the subject were wagering against the shot, but this time everything was going for it: a clean window, lighting favouring the subject matter, and a lower telephoto factor providing for less inherent grain. This is a classic old farmhouse in the Esk Valley of Yorkshire, between Middlesbrough and Whitby, snapped on a sunny afternoon in November, 2007, from the passing train. But for the visible motion on the foreground tree, you would almost think you were standing on the far side of the valley from the clarity. The frame was sharpened and colour- and contrast-balanced. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic, telephoto. Image by Mike.

Steel Gossamer

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It's truly amazing when the new and the old blend in a new synthesis for the new century. This is the inner courtyard of the British Museum in London, a 19th century structure, but which now contains the 'reading room,' almost a euphemism as it is a towering oval structure whose design seems to be an homage to the Library of Congress in Washington. The space between has been domed over with an incredible geodesic lattice of steel and glass, and the stonework of the old buildings has been cleaned to reflect the polished marble of the new. Set Roman, Egyptian and Sumerian relics against this backdrop and you have a very strong statement about social and political power bound up with custodianship of some of the most famous of antiquities. December 2006, Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic exposure. Image by Mike.