Voices From The Rust is a project that started with my love of photographing old things, which naturally included trains. And rather than photograph a whole train, I like to photograph parts of trains, and close-up views of aging, rusty metal. The colors and textures up-close represented a new world for me, a world in which one could live, a world from which abstract art could be mined.

It is impossible to miss the graffiti that covers any train of age, and while I hope not to glorify it, there is an interaction between these newer layers of paint, and the aged, rusty original, that produces historical layers that are somewhat like looking at the rings of a tree.

There was also a different kind of graffiti which interested me. These are the messages, the voices, those who are not trying to make visual art, but who are trying to say something. It's interesting what one will say when the stage is set. I started photographing some of these messages to see if they had meaning when brought together. See what you think.

 

(Look for the book in late 2011)