Otego, New York 2 - 1990

This is 'Otego, New York' by James Welling. It’s a black and white photograph, and what I love about black and white photography is its ability to simplify the world. Here, Welling's captured a train chugging through a landscape. I can almost feel the rumble of the engine, the whistle blowing in the distance. What I think he’s trying to do is show the contrast of the organic and the man-made. The natural grassy hillside, the grey sky, the electric lines—then, bam! Right in the centre, the powerful locomotive train. I feel like he wants us to think about how industrialisation has impacted our natural world. It’s a photograph, but it makes you consider the marks and the gestures and also the absence of them. Ultimately, it prompts us to reflect on the changing landscape and our place within it.