Steam Trains
'Today the steam locomotive has become a curiosity in most places, yet the silver gelatin prints he has produced which feature them, `effectively chart the great arcs of history’. Whether these engines with billowing smoke lead their carriages through Victoria in Australia (where Page grew up), or transport cargo across the South African savannah, or over the Jing Ping Pass in China, traverse remote parts of Mongolia and India, we the viewer are taken on a journey over four decades and five continents'.
The halcyon days of steam are a fading memory.
Indeed, many people have never seen a steam engine except in a museum. I was privileged to have documented them from the height of their power into their declining years. These photographs take you back to an era when life moved at a slower pace, and the smell of coal smoke and steam permeated our lives. They capture and explore the enduring relationship of individuals and societies to a machine many consider our closest creation to a living entity.
As a child I lived near a train line and at night their whistles would split the darkness and evoke feelings of mystery and excitement. By day I would watch their passing and wanted to travel with them. Eventually I did. I picked up a camera and began a lifetime journey, initially across Australia and then internationally. These photographs are time capsules that preserve forever the glory of steam, share and enjoy the journey.
The halcyon days of steam are a fading memory.
Indeed, many people have never seen a steam engine except in a museum. I was privileged to have documented them from the height of their power into their declining years. These photographs take you back to an era when life moved at a slower pace, and the smell of coal smoke and steam permeated our lives. They capture and explore the enduring relationship of individuals and societies to a machine many consider our closest creation to a living entity.
As a child I lived near a train line and at night their whistles would split the darkness and evoke feelings of mystery and excitement. By day I would watch their passing and wanted to travel with them. Eventually I did. I picked up a camera and began a lifetime journey, initially across Australia and then internationally. These photographs are time capsules that preserve forever the glory of steam, share and enjoy the journey.
