PAST STANDING PULLMANS

 This post finds me returning to the confluence of poetry and photography once more as Philip Larkin's marvellous writings find a reflection in a theme I am often drawn to - Railways. The blog itself takes its name from one of Larkins' lines from the beautiful 'Whitsun Weddings', which finds the author in a railway carriage one summers day in the 1950's. Larkin had the gift of making the most ordinary and mundane situations seem hugely important and striking and this poem highlights his way of picking out snapshots of life from the rush and bustle of the everyday - as the line says:

sun destroys the interest of what’s happening in the shade,

I enjoy rail travel, even though it is much changed since Larkin's day and far less romantic. However, it is a great opportunity to grab snapshots of the journey, which might otherwise be missed as the train speeds through the city and countryside. To this end, I use my iphone and a variety of different camera apps to grab a record of the journey as the train moves on its way and when I am waiting at a station. This sequence is taken with the monochrome apps 'Blackie' and 'Argentum', both of which are ideally suited to street photography and use a tall, vertical format. The format is intended to suggest a window- like shape for the shots.































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