Wednesday, January 30, 2008
above Tower Colliery
I took this earlier in January (and yes it's processed a bit) in the Rhondda. It was originally going to be titled with its geographical pointers: either the mountain in the distance (Garn-fach) or the lake (Llyn Fawr) or the point where I am standing (Mynydd Beili-Glas) but last week it was announced that the last deep-shaft coal mine in Wales, the workforce-managed Tower Colliery, was to be closed as it had finally run out of coal. The flowers and crosses are 'bad trip, sad trip' memorials but the whole could well have marked the closure. The trees are part of the mine site although the pit head is round the corner to the right. For those who thought that we were moving away from coal think again: open-cast mining is beginning to rip open the valleys.
Permalink / posted by and copyright of John Ellis : 7:51 AM
Comments:
Wow, that colour really makes an impression. Who needs fancy photoshop desaturation techniques when sensible use of the capture medium works much better. Lose the righthand side after the flowers else I'd be needing a little more beneath them to balance them within the vista. The harsh backdrop is so at odds with the flowers it adds an additional depth both visually and emotionally. Moving and wonderfully seen.
I agree with Akikana, this is very moving and quite beautiful. I get the point about the right hand side, but not sure I'd want to lose the right side of that vista, so I like it as is.
Akikana - This is processed as I said in the introduction. It's a blend of a b/w version with colour - fairly straightforward but some of the colour is definitely 'leached' out. It feels much closer to how the day was!
Oh, so you did! I retract my "Who needs fancy photoshop desaturation techniques when sensible use of the capture medium works much better. " and wish to replace it with "Sensible and subtle use of photoshop could almost be mistaken for being captured as is in camera - which is how these types of adjustments should leave the viewer feeling."
I admire the processing and the way it emphasises the top left to bottom right lines, but I'm not sure that I like the resulting picture. I'm drawn to the technique in too obvious a way.
What does work visually is the draw of the bright central patch. At first I thought that this might be a mistake as it allows me to rest on neither the flowers nor the scarred hillside. However, because there are these two competing subjects I find that the bright patch allows me to flick between them and to give equal weight to both.
Photographically the diagonals are appealing with the various layers receding to the background.
The tributes leave me wondering what is behind, is there a road or are these tributes in the middle of nowhere?
With the criss-cross roads, the escarpment and your info about the mine I wonder how much man has influenced the shape of the landscape?
The flavour of the image is one of cold, damp and death.
Open cast mining? Really?
This is a very interesting photograph, as you might image, one that caught my immediate attention. It appears that there are three different memorials, thus leading me to think that this is a dangerous spot on the road.
As to the grand vista, I kept finding myself being pulled back to the middle grass due to their higher values, which then brings me back to the memorials. Not knowing about the coal mining, it is not apparent to my eyes in this image.
but in a way, you could say that the memorials are for both those who passed as well as for the environment that is about to being torn apart for the open pit.
'However, because there are these two competing subjects I find that the bright patch allows me to flick between them and to give equal weight to both.'
I think this works because your eye goes to the bright patch, finds nothing to look at it, and then casts up and down to find the actual subject. It works, although not if you think about it too hard.
Thanks for the varied feedback. I continue to compare this with the original colour and the b/w versions and can understand what Colin is saying. It does just remain my favourite though.
Rex - there is a road behind me: the one you can see below the grass, this side of the woods. But it is the other side of a carpark so these memorials are not by the site and are down a small slope. There is open-cast mining near Myrthyr Tydfil, a valley or two away, and more are planned in the area.
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What does work visually is the draw of the bright central patch. At first I thought that this might be a mistake as it allows me to rest on neither the flowers nor the scarred hillside. However, because there are these two competing subjects I find that the bright patch allows me to flick between them and to give equal weight to both.
The tributes leave me wondering what is behind, is there a road or are these tributes in the middle of nowhere?
With the criss-cross roads, the escarpment and your info about the mine I wonder how much man has influenced the shape of the landscape?
The flavour of the image is one of cold, damp and death.
Open cast mining? Really?
As to the grand vista, I kept finding myself being pulled back to the middle grass due to their higher values, which then brings me back to the memorials. Not knowing about the coal mining, it is not apparent to my eyes in this image.
but in a way, you could say that the memorials are for both those who passed as well as for the environment that is about to being torn apart for the open pit.
I think this works because your eye goes to the bright patch, finds nothing to look at it, and then casts up and down to find the actual subject. It works, although not if you think about it too hard.
Rex - there is a road behind me: the one you can see below the grass, this side of the woods. But it is the other side of a carpark so these memorials are not by the site and are down a small slope. There is open-cast mining near Myrthyr Tydfil, a valley or two away, and more are planned in the area.