I spent so much time riding trains in Sri Lanka that I shot a lot of different kinds of film: low-speed color film, high-speed color film, slide film, and black-and-white.
But when it came time to pare down my images for my post about Sri Lanka train rides, I chose to leave out the black-and-white photos. It’s not because I wasn’t fond of the images. I love the way the textures of the journey are so visible in black-and-white, and the nostalgic cast of the low-contrast images.
Instead, I wanted the vibrant green of the Sri Lankan countryside to cover my whole post. Green was the predominant color in Sri Lanka in general, and especially on this train journey. The countryside is so lush and verdant; the opposite of the barrenness of summertime in Southeast Turkey.
We are told to kill our darlings, but I couldn’t let these monochrome images go. Usually, my black-and-white photo essays are of cities, so here’s something new: the views from a rushing train, in every shade of gray.
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