Shot this about ten years ago in the Azores. Looks like it might be a rudimentary kind of cement mixer that ran on rails..(?) Originally taken in colour, it begged to converted to B&W. Almost seems to have an anthropomorphic character to it. Whaddya reckon?
Extreme steam punk here, William! I want one. You might like the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher. Their "Blast Furnaces" is one of my all-time favourite portfolios. This image reminds me of their "typologies", images of structures taken in flat light, apparently just record shots with no "atmosphere", drama, people or movement.
To be a bit photo-nerdy, you've got lots of dead white at top right, which would pass muster better if e.g. the lower left were high contrast, to give a more lith or engraving-like look. As it is, I find myself feeling the lack of even some subtle sky detail or toning.
As usual, I can't resist tampering with others' work. In this edit I've tried to mimic engraving, or the stark, high-contrast look of the orthochromatic film of this machine's era, which did render skies white.
Wow! That certainly does take the image to its logical conclusion! Some how the machine feels more at home in this representation. Thanks Chris.
I do love fellow photo-nerds!
Hi William!
What a cool thing you have found. This is an interesting image to be sure. I like what Chris did with it above if you are interested in an even more 'antiquey' feeling for the image. I think the high contrast works well with the subject. I like your version better but that is just personal preference.
I don't know if you had any more space in this original. My only suggestion would be - if you did - to give it some empty space on one side (left or right but not both). When a subject has wheels or is mobile (even with animals but particularly with vehicles) leaving some space for potential movement gives more story to the image. It is hard to explain but it gives "future" or "past" to the story rather than "here it is" when the subject is dead center and essentially fills the frame. I am just hanging out having my first Sunday morning coffee so this may be a bit photo-nerdy too. Like Chris, I can wax a little philosophical sometimes and composition is my favorite subject!!
Nice work!
Thanks Ruth. Really appreciate the feedback! I certainly see your point about the desirability of some extra space to give a sense of past or future movement, but I just didn’t leave any when I took the shot! The only editing I did was a tiny amount of rotation, conversion to B&W and fiddling a little bit with brightness and contrast. 😕
No worries! It works well as is!
I very much agree with Ruth about placement of moving subjects in the frame generally. However in this particular case I prefer central placement of the subject, partly because it's not Stephenson's Rocket or a racing car, but clearly an essentially static machine in use, mounted on a carriage so it can be used at different sites. It doesn't have clear front and rear ends like a car, boat or plane, for instance.
Further, this straight-on, illustrative image style, like the Bechers', conjures up for me engineering drawings, so central placement somehow feels right.
I like the constrained formality, even rigidity, of the tight composition for this subject. But that's just me. I have high respect for Ruth's views.