Massive is the best word to define the Panama Canal – everything about this incredible engineering project is big. I used abstraction and scale incongruity here to tell the story of its size. I was shooting from the front of a cruise ship about to leave the Pedro Miguel Locks, the second set of locks that made it possible for us to sail through the heart of Panama from the Caribbean Sea into the Pacific Ocean. I noticed a man standing on top of the gate, an incongruously tiny figure compared to the huge gate beneath his feet. I used my spot meter to expose for the water beyond the gate, which abstracted both the man and the gate. I then waited for the gate to open, and shot just as soon as I saw a sliver of water appear between them. This vertical band of light rhythmically repeats the vertical posture of both the man and the post at upper left. The image is almost monochromatic – the only color is a hit of brown in the water and the yellow rails of the walkway on top of the gates. How massive are the workings of the Panama Canal? This picture may provide an answer.