single frame: Power tower

Electric

Power tower
Agfa Clack
Ilford FP4 Plus
LegacyPro L110, Dilution B
2021

I’m fascinated with the power lines that run through my neighborhood, and with this tower in particular. I’ve photographed it over and over. I still haven’t found the best composition involving it. I suppose I’ll keep trying until either I nail it or I move away.

If you’d like to get more of my photography in your inbox or reader, click here to subscribe.


Comments

17 responses to “single frame: Power tower”

  1. retrocrank Avatar

    The Clack was the perfect choice for this scene; the photograph is more than that the physical scene and the photographer.

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Thanks! I appreciate your perspective. It’s so easy for me to not be able to really see my own work.

      1. retrocrank Avatar

        just to be clear, I really like this and find it to be a powerful image. Your concern about ‘nailing it’ hopefully has evaporated!

        1. Jim Grey Avatar

          Thank you! :-) Here’s my favorite image of this tower so far. I like the symmetry of it.

          https://www.flickr.com/photos/mobilene/49747106938

  2. Andy Umbo Avatar
    Andy Umbo

    Careful with that EMF! I hope you were wearing your aluminum foil hat! I know people that won’t buy a house anywhere near power lines like that…

    Ever try this?

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      I’m not thrilled to live in a neighborhood with these power lines, to be sure. That video was crazy!

  3. Olli Thomson Avatar
    Olli Thomson

    I like this one. Some of these pylons – and wind turbines also – have a real presence in the landscape, in the best way.

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      They are fascinating to be sure. I’m not sure I like living so near them, though!

      We have a giant wind-turbine “farm” along a major highway in northwest Indiana and it is cool to watch them silently turn as you drive by.

      1. Andy Umbo Avatar
        Andy Umbo

        The four years I was driving between Indianapolis, Chicago, and Milwaukee, I used to refer to that area as: “The Alien Landscape”.

        I’d probably rather live near a wind generator than high power lines, tho!

  4. tbm3fan Avatar
    tbm3fan

    When I looked at the picture my mind immediately went back to 1974 when I was taking photography at San Diego State Univ. Our assignments were always a certain aspect/idea in photography be it portrait, foreground, depth of field and so forth. So when I saw this picture my mind instantly went back to then and what my teacher would have said to me after submitting this photo.

    He would have written on the back the grade and then written that I had a tree growing out of the main focus of the photo and that I should eliminate it next time to keep the central point of the photo uncluttered. Guess what? To this day I still do that automatically when shooting and will say to myself no good need a better angle. My wife has seen that when she wants a picture of hers taken somewhere, stands, and I say move because something is growing out of her head.

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Your professor would be right about my photo, for sure! I knew this framing wasn’t perfect when I made it, but I was mostly testing my Clack in the cold so I didn’t sweat it so much. I’m not sure there’s a framing here where trees aren’t in the way, unfortunately.

  5. Kurt Ingham Avatar

    I like it. You continue what seems like a long ‘tradition’ of getting more out of the Clack than would be expected

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      It’s a surprising performer!

  6. fishyfisharcade Avatar

    I’ve had a long-held fascination with overhead powerlines and the like. I find them interesting structures in the landscape (although, like yourself, wouldn’t want to live too close to them), and like the sense of journey they evoke – where did they originate and where is their destination? As a result I probably have a higher than usual number of photos of them. That said, I’m not some sort of “pylon fanatic” who goes round spotting them as a hobby or something. :)

    A lot of it probably came from watching public information films when I was a child about the dangers of overhead wires as well as things like this old advert for National Power (although I was a bit older by the time this was made!):

    https://youtu.be/AZXltqBzQok

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      I’ve never had so much access to these! Maybe that’s why I’m so fascinated with them: novelty.

  7. brandib1977 Avatar

    I really like this one and the way it towers over the trees. It’s especially powerful in black and white.

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Thanks! I’m pleased that everybody seems to like it.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d