Trackside

My Trackside project is a collection of stories of people living next to commuter rail lines. Their relationship with large, insistent commuter trains running next to their homes fascinated me. Viewing backyard scenes through train windows while traveling into Boston encouraged me to visit and photograph people whose properties ran along the rail lines. My Trackside photographs are scenes viewed from the other side of the train windows, from the backyards that trains pass by on their daily routes Generous homeowners helped me construct scenes in their backyards as trains passed by. I often used lights to brightly illuminate trains as they rolled by. I designed these photos to include some of the characteristics of photos taken by O. Winston Link back in the 1950’s when he affectionately photographed steam-powered trains moving through small towns in Virginia and West Virginia.