Saturday, September 10, 2011

#113: From a Dublin Train

Dublin - Galway train

Intrepid shot-through-a-train-window pictures rarely turn out the way I think they will. Shot in a moment of fleeting interest, they are often blurry, unfocused, off-kilter, and yet utterly capture that weird excitement of spotting something -- anything -- through a scratched and foggy train window that will be gone in a matter of seconds. Sometimes I hardly know what I'm shooting, only that a shape or a sign or a flash of color has caught my attention and I feel the compulsion to grab it.

This number I happened to spot on the platform as the Dublin to Galway train was starting its slow chug out of one of the stations. The triangle makes a good frame and the stenciled numbers fit ever so snugly inside. And when I look at it now, far removed, I can still imagine the quiet rocking motion of the train. I can still see the wooden slats of the platform disappearing and the passing green landscape as the train travels westward.

And I can't dwell long on the weird solitary beauty of train travel without my thoughts drifting off to the lovely Robyn Hitchcock song, "I Often Dream of Trains." Ever feel like a song just crawled up into your subconscious and burrowed there and made it its home? This is one of those for me. I have loved it a very long time, almost as long as I've loved trains.

2 comments:

Pierre said...

don't know why, but this makes me think of concentration camps.

Therese Cox said...

Pierre - Maybe I should've kept the wide angle with all the crushed cider cans and crisps ads!