{"id":8816,"date":"2014-11-07T01:44:48","date_gmt":"2014-11-07T06:44:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/?p=8816"},"modified":"2014-11-07T08:31:17","modified_gmt":"2014-11-07T13:31:17","slug":"spirit-of-the-mississippi-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/spirit-of-the-mississippi-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Spirit of the Mississippi\u2014Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Belleview, Iowa, March 31, 1996.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

My old boss at Pentrex Publishing, Don Gulbrandsen, encouraged my photography along the Mississippi by describing the whole experience as the \u2018Spirit of the River.\u2019 While for me the main attraction was the railroads; the towns, scenery, boats and barges, locks and wild life (mostly birds of the feathered variety), which made for added interest.<\/p>\n

Between 1994 and 1996, I made numerous trips to the Mississippi River Valley, largely working between Savanna, Illinois and La Crosse, Wisconsin and the corresponding towns on the Iowa-side.<\/p>\n

I often traveled with Tom and Mike Danneman, Dean Sauvola, Tim Hensch and others, who added their perspective to the Mississippi Valley. While Burlington Northern (BNSF after September 1995) was the busiest line, whenever possible, I focused on the other railroads, namely Canadian Pacific\u2019s Soo Line and Chicago, Central & Pacific.<\/p>\n

The vast majority of my photography from these trips has never been seen, save for the occasional slide show in the 1990s. The other day, on request from a regular Tracking the Light reader, I opened a blue Logan Box filled with cardboard-mounted chromes that is labeled \u2018Midwest 1990s,\u2019 and contains some of my Mississippi River highlights.<\/p>\n

Some of the photos are classic views, others are more interpretive. At the time, I was aiming to expose scenes that captured the railroad in its environment, often with a greater emphasis on the environment than the trains.<\/p>\n

\"CP_freight_Belleview_IA_Mar31_1996_MOD1_Fujichrome\u00a9Brian<\/a>
A northward Soo Line freight on the former Milwaukee Road negotiates street trackage at Belleview, Iowa on March 31, 1996. Exposed with a Nikkormat FTN with f4.0 200mm Nikkor lens. Here I was working with selective focus to make the most of the scene. If I’m successful, your interest should bounce back and forth between the train and the car parked on the side of the road.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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