Description

This stunning large-scale color photograph is from a recent series examining long-abandoned railroad right-of-ways in Dutchess County, New York, near where Brouws lives. It is a continuation of his interest in documenting the sociological, cultural, and historical aspects of a place within the contemporary everyday landscape. Relying on topographic maps from 1909, official texts, and up-to-the-minute Google Earth satellite imagery, he has investigated remnants of railroads constructed more than 120 years ago. In 1938 the physical presence of the railroad was removed; however, melting snow in this picturesque winter scene suggests a trace of the former tracks. Two converging lines propel the viewer’s attention through an open field into a dense wooded landscape that ends at a glowing orange sunset.