POWERGRAMS

6 Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay said, "There isn't a train I wouldn't take." Ken Boyd, environmental specialist, Environmental Assessment, might amend that to say, "There isn't a train I wouldn't photograph." He has amassed more than 400 images of locomotives from North America and Europe, and 188 of those are in "The Art of the Locomotive," a coffee-table book of steam, diesel and electric trains. For a book filled with still images, it is a powerful and moving depiction of the history and technology of the locomotive. "I've always been interested in photography," Boyd said, "particularly historical subjects and nostalgic imagery. I started photographing trains where Birmingham's Railroad Park is now, at the old railroad graveyard there. "One day my wife and I were going through my old photos, which I kept under the bed, in drawers and scattered about the basement, and she and others encouraged me to consider putting together my train pictures as a collection. I worked on scanning those negatives, slides and prints, touching them up and bringing them up to digital-quality standards. When we looked at that collection, we realized it was fairly historic. We started talking about a book project," he said. Boyd wrote a proposal for the book, and it was picked up by Minneapolis-based Voyageur Press. They asked for 150 images, but wanted only locomotives. That stipulation eliminated some of the photographs of cabooses and other train cars Boyd hoped to use, and he began traveling the country to find more locomotives. While most books about trains focus on a particular railroad or region, Boyd's collection is high-level and crosses more traditional boundaries. "I didn't know a lot about trains at first," he said. "The easier way would have been to go local or regional, but I didn't know enough about a railroad or a local area to go into that much detail. Fortunately, I had documented my work as I took my locomotive photographs – who built them, when they were made, a few interesting facts about them – so I was able to use early pictures from my collection." Each picture is accompanied with a short description Boyd wrote. But it is the photographs that dominate. He spent hours preparing each image. "My approach to photography is not documentation so much as it is fine art," he said. "I would characterize my photographs as made, not taken. I pre-visualize what I want and I try to deliver a high-quality image." Boyd may shoot a locomotive in a museum, but his final shot will have no sign of guardrails or display signs. A locomotive may have been changed on computer to appear on a track or outdoors in the book photo. "I like to create a simple, clean image," he said. "I take pictures of all the components and details, and then I piece them together for a realistic image. While I manipulate the photos, I try to make the locomotive look authentic. I don't change the locomotive in any way that would detract from it. I just clean up the setting." Published in September 2014, about 10,000 copies of the book have been sold. Boyd has had to eke out time for book signings and marketing travel in addition to working at his full-time job and continuing with his hobby of photography. Still, he has time periodically to look ahead, and is meeting with publishers about other projects: black-and-white locomotive photography and early locomotive history. He has a collection of photographs of other railroad cars, as well as water and grist mills. "They were my main interest through the '80s," he said. "I tried for years to get a book published on those, but that is a much smaller audience. Maybe now I can get a publisher who will be interested in that book idea." To purchase "The Art of the Locomotive" online, go to Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Books-A-Million. By Marti Webb Slay Training the Eye PROFILE BOOK BLENDS ENERGY OF LOCOMOTIVES WITH POWERFUL IMAGES 'The Art of the Locomotive' includes nearly 200 images of trains. Boyd's hobby led to new book. Photos by Christopher Jones

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