Here also exists subtle and explicit compositional symmetries . . . the tracks echo the wall's planks, the massive rectangle of the door is mimicked by the railroad ties; the sweeping streaks of black graffiti parallel the slope and wave of the horizon as well as the paths of the distant dirt roads; an unruly mound of tangled debris provides an ironic similarity to dark forms of oaks on the hills.
In my high school junior year (Clifton, AZ) I had a fascinating and intensely engaging character as my Chemistry and Biology teacher. Occasionally he proffered his opinion that evolution was a mistaken notion -- to the contrary, his view was that mankind (in particular) began as a much higher life form and has ever since been on a declining trajectory. I don't concur vis-à-vis with his evolutionary theories, yet my species' propensity to inflict wantonly destructive behavior with abandon upon disused buildings does give one reason to pause.
The scene offered here presents a stark duality between the elegance of nature's workings and that of earth's highest life form . . .
Impermanence (Devolution), #5057
(c)2009 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.
(click image for larger version)
Details: October 11, 2009; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/160 sec; -1/3 EV; ISO 200; 22mm.
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I love this picture. The image depicts three fundamental aspects of human suffering (greed - represented by train tracks, as well as aversion and delusion in the shack covered with spray paint) and also the beauty of the natural world, the original world, God's world - to contrast with the human angst depicted in the shack which is dripping with the emotions of lost souls who invested some significant time in their morose day covering the wood with their own pain.
ReplyDeleteThe hope in the picture is seen in the rolling hills which represent a return to our original goodness, our original grace. In the hills and the clouds above them we are reminded that there are things pure and beautiful in this world. There appears a path on the hills that leads off to a mystery destination, a place perhaps where we may find our way back to our own divinity...where we may one day again see our original face, the face we had before our parents were even born.
Great image! It makes me want to leave on vacation...maybe wander down the train tracks through the countryside.
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