A Passion for Trains: The Railroad Photography of Richard Steinheimer

Rating:
Summary: Poetry in motion
Review:
My favorite railroad art photo books are Winston Link's 'Stream Steel & Stars' and 'Starlight on the Rails' (also by Jeff Brows) now this book of beautiful photos by Richard Steinheimer joins the list. Jeff Brouws writes, in his interesting introduction, about the typical train photo of the distant past being the '¾ smoking wedge', that is, a three-quarter angle shot showing the front and side of an engine with the rest of the consist disappearing into the distance in a wedge shape and don't forget the smoking stack.

Fortunately for us Mr Steinheimer pushed this rather narrow view of photography a lot further and took great photos of trains in an environmental setting. The 153 images in this book are most likely some of his best work and they all reveal the Steinheimer characteristics: beautiful framing, compositions, tonal qualities and well-chosen subject matter. His compositions and framing just seem so right and the only other train photographer who has a similar ability, in my view, is Greg McDonnell.

The selection is first class, steamers and diesels, day and night (and many in snow) yardwork or out in the landscape. A nice touch, I thought were the frequent shots of railroad folk going about their business. Turn over the pages and frequently a photo will grab you, like plate 139 taken in 1952 and looking down on Green River station in Wyoming, it is a real life version of a model train layout with the people, cars, buildings and Union Pacific's City of San Francisco frozen in time or plate 144, a 1964 Santa Fe depot interior shot showing the operator's desk and bursting with visual detail.

As this is an art photo book I'm pleased to say it looks the part, the duotones are beautifully printed on excellent paper, the layout and typography could not be better. I think this book is a wonderful record of one of the few great train photographers.


Rating:
Summary: The definitive Steinheimer book
Review: Long known to be the greatest American railroad photographer, Jeff Brouws has finally produced an artistic monograph which is worthy of Dick Steinheimer's long career. Filled with many never before published images, the book not only gives you a glimpse at Stein's amazing vision, but even at some of his early works, and his failures, showing you the progress of the man's talent. Additionally, Brouw's erudite introduction provides an in depth study of the man and his skills, and the long search for and development of them by Stein. The text alone is an eye opener for any who would dare to follow in Dick's footsteps, and as such, the book is highly recommended to all railroad photographers who wish to elevate their work to an artistic achievement that is something more than inbred provincial documentarianism.

Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: Someone else called 'A Passion for Trains' Poetry in motion, I would like to second that.

this is a great book, and makes a wonderful gift. I know firsthand. I gave it to two people, and they both loved it.