Saturday, January 30, 2010

Desert solitaire


RAILS IN THE WEST TEXAS DESERT, JANUARY 26, 2010

Pentax K20D
Sigma 17-70 DC at 26mm
1/3000 sec. f5.6
ISO 400

This shot was taken from the rear sleeping car vestibule of Amtrak's westbound Texas Eagle/Sunset Limited on the old Southern Pacific (now Union Pacific) main line through the Chihuahuan Desert somewhere between Alpine and El Paso. It reminds me of these lines of T.S. Eliot from "The Dry Salvages":

Fare forward, travellers! not escaping from the past
Into different lives, or into any future;

You are not the same people who left that station

Or who will arrive at any terminus,

While the narrowing rails slide together behind you.


Click the photo for a large, screensaver-sized version.

4 comments:

Katheline Kurts said...

Hello,
my name is Elena and I just found your picture and thaught it would be perfect for a CD cover that I would like to do. I would do some editing and cut the picture but I wanted to ask for your permission. If you are not okay with it I wont do anything with it I promise. Have a nice day !

Katheline Kurts said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
HENRY KISOR said...

Elena, there are conditions, especially if you intend to use the photograph commercially, but I have no way to reach you to discuss them. Please send a private email to author@henrykisor.com and I'lll get in touch.

Katheline Kurts said...

Thank you, I will do so.