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Taking a Project-Based Approach to Rail Photography
Find out about a special photography technique you can use and what to consider before you begin
By
Alexander B. Craghead
Published:
August 25, 2010  Sometimes concentrating on just a narrow subject can make for a good photo project. For photographer Kyle Weismann-Yee, the disappearing switching operations of Portland, Ore., make up a strong series. One shot shows BNSF Job 101 at Willbridge, Portland, Ore., on Nov. 16, 2009.
Photo by Kyle Weismann-Yee  Another example of a thematic project series is the railroad monikers from Wes Carr. With thousands of railcars and perhaps hundreds of different monikers, this series could provide interest for years. The photographer calls this shot, "Colossus of Roads," seen near Allamoore, Texas, in March 2010.
Photo by Wes Carr  Capturing the remnants of Portland, Ore.’s once extensive industrial trackage proved to be a fascinating, two-year-long endeavor for the author. Here's one shot from that project: remnants of the Northern Pacific Terminal Co.’s Upsher Street line at Portland, Ore., in May 2008.
Photo by Alexander B. Craghead  For a study of urban railroad crossings in Portland, Oregon, the photographer used the same lens, perspective, and lighting for every image. The consistency draws greater attention to both the similarities and differences of each location. Such groupings are called "typologies," and now popular among artists after the German photographer team of Bernd and Hilla Becher popularized the approach in the 1970s.
Photo by Scott Lothes
The project-based approach is a powerful tool that helps artists create more intentional bodies of work. Famous examples include Vincent Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" series of paintings and Ed Ruscha's "Twenty-six Gasoline Stations" photographs. The heart of a project is that it carries a unified subject, purpose, or theme. The concept is similar to the journalistic idea of a photo assignment, but rather than reacting to an environment as photojournalism does, photography projects are proactive.
The Advantages of Intention
A project-based approach hinges on the concept of conveying a deliberate message from the photographer to the viewer. As a photographer, this requires you to think about the message you want to convey before making photographs and also to consider how the end product will be viewed and interpreted. This, in turn, encourages you to decide in advance on such options as format (color or monochrome), focal length, angles, positioning, framing, and even the way the final images will be presented.
While this notion may sound restricting, photographing with such intention can actually free you from the limits of circumstance faced when working in the more reactionary, journalistic mode. That approach often requires a great deal of luck, sometimes resulting in frustration when something doesn't go right. Shooting with intention helps to level the playing field, allowing you to rely more on skill and forethought than luck and circumstance.
Intentional Photography: An Example
Here is an example: Assume that I was attracted to the locomotive portraits by Darius Kinsey, the famed photographer of early 20th century logging railroad operations in the Pacific Northwest. The goal of my project is to apply Kinsey's approach to contemporary subjects. I might begin by examining Kinsey's original photos to determine whether unifying patterns exist among them, such as perspective, composition, and focal length.
I should also consider more conceptual options. Kinsey generally included the locomotive crews in his images. Today, railroad crews are far less accessible and more reluctant to be photographed. Not including them would make my project easier, and might also make a broader statement about personal interactions in contemporary society. On the other hand, including the crews, which are now much smaller, could help to illustrate more of the changes between today's world and what Kinsey photographed. Every decision can lead to a profoundly different outcome and making more decisions in advance can lead to a far more cohesive body of work.
The Advantages of Limitations
Defining a project also means defining what is not within a project. If you make photographs only for a certain project or projects, you will be forced to pass up many other potential images. Such self-imposed restrictions can actually lead to artistic improvement: as adversity breeds character, constraint breeds creativity. For example, painters often work with a limited color palette to hone their technique. In the culinary arts, the cooking show "Iron Chef" has made this notion famous; Contestants receive a limited number of ingredients from which to make a meal.
Let's return to my hypothetical project of locomotive portraits. By focusing solely on this type of photograph, I could spend more time attempting to understand what makes a great locomotive portrait. Lighting, angles, lenses: is there a pattern to what works and what does not work? Having the discipline to not shoot other subjects would allow me to spend more time on making locomotive portraits and learning about their unique qualities. This is a luxury I would not have if I simply photographed any rail subject I found and tried to make sense of it all later.
Addressing Change
Lastly, project-based approaches can help a photographer address the sense of loss that Scott described in "Taking Railroad Photos Before Change Occurs." No railroad photographer will ever be able to capture all the change occurring around him or her. Rather than scrambling towards an unachievable goal, a project-based approach sets up an achievable scope.
Back to my example of the locomotive portrait project. In Darius Kinsey's time, logging railroads were very common throughout the United States, and especially in the Northwest. Today, however, only a handful of timber-based railroads remain. By defining a project that centers on these railroads, I could concentrate significant time on documenting these survivors before they disappear. While I might pass up many other worthy subjects, I would likely produce a deeper, richer, more meaningful body of work as a result.
Conclusion
Choosing a project-based approach is a valuable technique for a photographer. It can lead to more intentional images, improved technical and creative skills, and a more achievable end product. While each of these outcomes could be reached in other ways, project-based photography combines and requires these qualities, making it a potent tool in a photographer's arsenal. In Trains August 30, 2010, newsletter, find a link to part two of our discussion of the project-based approach. I will talk in depth about applying this technique to rail photography and share my photographic endeavors.
ALEXANDER B. CRAGHEAD is a member of the Center for Railroad Photography & Art, which provides monthly stories for the Trains newsletter. Craghead is a photographer, journalist, and self-described "transportation geek." He lives and works in the Portland, Ore., metropolitan area. See more of his work at route99west.com.
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