I photograph a lot of scratched metal, from fishing boat hulls to dumpsters to enormous containers that fit inside the holds of boats. And when I do, I tend to find bits and pieces that are like little landscapes, primarily based upon a strong "horizon line." Most of these photos were actually shot as verticals, knowing that later I'd rotate them to form a more traditional landscape.
Here you see how a welded seam turns into a sort of "crashing wave with rocks and mountains," how the marks on a fishing boat hull turn into a sky full of birds, how rivulets of rust become layers of hills moving into the distance, how scratches and gouges on a fishing boat could look like a sailboat race, and then how two of the photos look when blended together.
When we are wandering about with our cameras, it behooves us to ask, "what does this look like?" when choosing what to photograph. There are landscapes beyond the obvious, just waiting to be seen.
©Carol Leigh, just waiting to be seen . . .
