Monday 14 May 2007

A marriage of technology and elegant style - # 107

Daily streams of regular commuters and Saturday trippers pass through Richmond station. The main railway reached Richmond in the late 1840s/early 1850. The Underground railway(shown here) arrived about 1870. When I look at the great railway stations and bridges I admire the beautiful architecture and decoration. The Victorians were proud of their technological advance and combined it with the best that art could offer for our enjoyment. Where stations have been fully restored, the visual effect is stunning. In Richmond too much old paint hides some of the past glory, and the 1930s rebuild of the main line railway station is no longer a visual delight.

I think that this photo would be better if the line of passengers was in clear focus - but at least the art is clear, which is what I wanted to show.

9 comments:

  1. Yes, they built some fantastic railway stations those days. One of our Paris stations lost its passengers but is now a beautiful museum: the Gare d'Orsay is now the Musée d'Orsay. I'm happy they kept the building.

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  2. Chuck, I like your shot too! I think it's a great effect that you focused on the art instead of on the people! :)

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  3. Great long lines of people are; but great art isn't. Your focus was correct in my opinion. I also think the emphasis can be misplaced and often is.

    Aside from this-it reminded me of a photo of a station platform like this, but in Japan, and how their platform is made from exposed wooden beams. Not a single speck of dirt or clutter to be seen. Your station looks like that. Neat as a pin and clean as a whistle.

    Thank you for your visit to my blog and for the comment about my magazine cover for Patty.

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  4. well... i like the background, though blurring, but we know full of people.
    :))

    jing
    shanghai daily photo

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  5. Are there any plans to restore the Richmond station to its original glory?
    And isn't it up your alley? Maybe you should start the ball rolling ;-)

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  6. I like the blurred background, I think it makes the shot special.

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  7. That's be a cast iron column, masquerading as stone I believe. The victorians as you say were proud of technology, and you can see this quite a lot in London. A good example is John Nash's Carlton Terrace which has a series of Greek Doric columns manufactured in cast iron and painted white to look like their stone ancestors

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  8. I like the depth of focus in this shot - very nice effect!

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