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Summary: A Book of Masterpieces
Review: O. Winston Link, in my opinion, was the best train photographer that ever lived. He knew where to aim the light, how much light to have, and the best places to take photos. Most of Link's photos are taken at night, which enhances view of the massive amount of pure white steam.This book defines nostalgia more than clearly. Being a railroad and steam locomotive enthusiast myself, I dream about the living in pictures that Link took. In the book, Thomas Garver, one of Link's assistants, illustrates the sounds, details, and reasons for the trains being where they are in each photo. The Norfolk & Western was the last major railroad in the U.S. to say "good-bye" to steam power. When Link heard of the inevitable decision, he immediately began to "document" the railroad as it was before steam was gone. From about 1955 to 1958, he spent countless hours taking thousands of photos of the steam engines on the N&W. "The Last Steam Railroad in America" brings out some of the best photos he ever took. I like the photos in this book that pertain to the "Abingdon Branch" of the N&W. I used to live in Damascus, VA, a small town that was one of the major stops on this line. The railroad bed is now a bike trail and I have found every spot that Link stood at in order to take his photos of the Abingdon Branch. I highly recommend "The Last Steam Railroad in America" to any train enthusiast, photographer, or anyone who has memories of a steam locomotive roaring by their home. It will always have a special place on my bookshelf.
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Summary: It's our history!
Review: The reason this book is especially special is a picture of my husband's father and little brother found on page 75. The photography is wonderful and brings back so many memories for some older folks here. The Virginia Creeper came through our county so this is a piece of our history.
And that is why I am ordering another one for a family member.
Thank you
Rating:
Summary: The Classic Chiaroscuro Photography of Winston Link
Review: While my major interest in photography has always been the early-20th-century Camera Pictorialists, I've always loved the photographs of the late Winston Link. With their tremendous detail and chiaroscuro, they have qualities few photos have - drama and mood. Link was actually trained as an engineer but made his living as an industrial photographer. Even his commercial photographs had a strong narrative drive; they told the story of his clients' products. Because of his tremendous mastery of technique, Link was able to compose photographs with great spatial depth, and through well-placed illumination, bring them off. Link was long interested in steam locomotives but when a commercial assignment brought him to Virginia, he began a five-year-long project to document the Norfolk and Western railroad, the last steam railroad in america. While he shot the trains of the N & W in daylight - in both black and white and color - it was his night scenes that made Link a cult favorite among photographers. To capture the tremendous size of the locomotives and their ever-present steam, Link carefully composed each shot, blocking in where the locomotive would arrive and placing syncronized flashbulbs along the track to capture a steam locomotive at full cry. Winston Link was an American original who answered to his own muse - the steam locomotive.
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