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Kent Station, Cork—September 25, 2013 and October 6, 2014.

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Now and Then: How Changes to Infrastructure Affect Composition.

Photographic pairs showing locations that have been changed by time are nothing new. Yet, usually there are decades between photo pairs, not just one year.

In the interval between my September 2013 visit to Kent Station, Cork and my subsequent visit in the first week of October this year, the station suffered damage during a fierce storm.

On December 18, 2013, high winds caused the collapse of the historic canopy that had protected the platform serving tracks 1 and 2. In the wind, the old cast iron columns supporting the canopy snapped like toothpicks, and wooden sheathed canopy turned to splinters.

Kent Station, Cork on September 25, 2013. The old canopy is a central element to this image, exposed with my Lumix LX3. I've used the canopy in several ways, including to block out much of the textureless white sky, and to divide the frame in a meaningful way.
Kent Station, Cork on September 25, 2013. The old canopy is a central element to this image, exposed with my Lumix LX3. I’ve used the canopy in several ways, including to block out much of the textureless white sky, and to divide the frame in a meaningful way.
The canopy is now gone, but that makes it more of story than in the earlier element. Here the ominous sky on October 6, 2014, alludes to the storm some 10 months earlier, while the boxed vestiges on the platform hint at the old cast iron columns. I've made no effort to precisely duplicate my earlier photograph. That would only result in an awkwardly composed contemporary image. Lumix LX7 photo.
The canopy is now gone, but that makes it more of story than in the earlier image. Here, on October 6, 2014, the ominous sky alludes to the storm some 10 months earlier, while the boxed vestiges on the platform hint at the old cast iron columns. I’ve made no effort to precisely duplicate my earlier photograph. That would only result in an awkwardly composed contemporary image. Lumix LX7 photo.

When I arrived off the train from Dublin in the afternoon of October 6, 2014, I was well aware of the change to the canopy, having read about it on RTE’s internet news  and again some months later in the Journal of the Irish Railway Record Society.

However, a change such as this cannot really be fully appreciated until witnessed in person. The old canopy was an important fixture of Kent Station and it altered the quality of light on the platforms, as well as protecting passengers from the elements.

In this September 25, 2013 image the black mass of the canopy helps balance the shapes of the rail cars while shadowing the platform and ground making for a more contrasty image. Lumix LX3 photo.
In this September 25, 2013 image, I’m looking away from Kent Station toward Cobh and Midlton. Here the black mass of the canopy helps balance the shapes of the rail cars while shadowing the platform and ground making for a more contrasty image. Lumix LX3 photo.
I'm nearly in the same place for this photo as I was in the 2013 image above. Without the canopy to add a balancing element, I focused more intently on the 2600-series diesel railcars. The lighting in both photographs is similar.
I’m nearly in the same place for this photo as I was in the 2013 image above. But without the canopy to add a balancing element, I focused more intently on the 2600-series diesel railcars. The lighting in both photographs is similar. Which do you prefer? Lumix LX7 photo exposed on October 6, 2014.

In these photo pairings, my goal wasn’t to make precise comparisons to show the exact nature of the changed scene, but rather to show how the canopy, and the lack there of, affected the way I composed my images. I was keen to show the broken cast iron columns because they now tell the story.

Likewise, someday the semaphores will go. And when they are gone, I’ll no longer be intent to frame trains with them. Some other element of the scene will take their place.

In this September 25, 2013 view I've carefully used the old canopy as a frame for the 2600 railcar departing Kent Station. Notice the relative location of semaphores, lighting masts, and cast iron canopy supports. Lumix LX3 photo.
In this September 25, 2013 view I’ve carefully used the old canopy as a frame for the 2600 railcar departing Kent Station. Notice the relative location of semaphores, lighting masts and cast iron canopy supports. Lumix LX3 photo.
In the above photo, the canopy serves more as a frame than as subject. While in this October 6, 2014 image, the broken cast iron column is an element of interest, especially after you know the story. Imaging the sound it made when it broke! Here an arriving 2600 railcar passes the old semaphores, long may they last! Lumix LX7 photo.
In the above photo, the canopy serves more as a frame than as subject. While in this October 6, 2014 image, the broken cast iron column is an element of interest, especially after you know the story. Imagine the sound it made when it broke! Here an arriving 2600 railcar passes the old semaphores, long may they last! Notice how I’ve included more platform is this more recent image. Lumix LX7 photo.

When you make photos, how do you balance the elements in the scene? Do you focus on just the primary subject or do you adjust your composition to take in secondary elements, such as that offered by the platform canopy and semaphores in these images? Think about it.

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