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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Thirty Eight: The camera as time machine: linking the past to the present > Ghost train, Winslow, Arizona, 2006
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10-JUL-2006

Ghost train, Winslow, Arizona, 2006

A carefully embalmed passenger car of the long defunct Pennsylvania Railroad stands behind an eroding wall near Winslow’s train depot. This car was named after Louis Sockalexis, one of the earliest Native American baseball stars. Ironically, Sockalexis's career burned briefly and brightly, and then crumbled into oblivion. And so did the railroad that once honored his memory. By juxtaposing this gleaming but ghostly railroad car against the crumbling wall, I turn the tables on time. The old train becomes new again, while the world decays around it.

Leica D-Lux 2
1/400s f/4.0 at 6.7mm iso80 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis23-Jul-2006 18:35
Thanks, Kal -- I actually saw the crumbling wall first because it was more incongruous than the railcar, which was appropriate to a rail yard environment. It makes the old railcar seem much newer than it really is. That's the twist on history here. Thanks for noticing it.
Kal Khogali23-Jul-2006 14:54
I like the sense of dynamic balance created by the wall...history is teatering on the edge..K
Phil Douglis20-Jul-2006 00:37
Good point, Jenene. The wall stands in shocking counterpoint to the gleaming rail car, threating to eventually pull the rug right out from under it.
JSWaters19-Jul-2006 18:13
Once again, an appropriate metaphor for the state of preservation (or lack thereof) on Rte 66. I can't help but feel that crumbling wall will eventually overturn the train car and knock off it's spit and polish.
Jenene
Phil Douglis16-Jul-2006 06:51
Good point, Lara - the warm light plays a huge role in this picture, aging the scene, and taking it back into time.
Lara S16-Jul-2006 05:16
nice play with natural light. the sun gives the image an "old photo" feeling which ads to the ghostly feeling of the image.
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