Fifteen Seconds in Catlettsburg
I’ve been quiet on here but that doesn’t mean I’ve been quiet behind the scenes. I’ve been working on a major collection launch: finalizing print masters, making proofs, preparing printed material and bringing everything together. There’s a lot in progress and I’ll share it in the not-too-distant future.
But after so much time at the screen and between the printers I needed some time behind the lens.
I drove South to check out the industry alongside the Ohio River around Ironton but everything was quiet so I carried on a bit further and crossed the river into Ashland, Kentucky and carried on further South to check out the Marathon Oil Refinery at Catlettsburg. This was also quiet and static so I decided to keep going down US-23 to check the power station at Louisa.
Five miles along the way I realized that I had forgotten about Calgon Carbon’s wonderful plant. It was reminding me in no uncertain terms by belching its enormous plumes of steam across the night sky, demanding that I turn off US-23 immediately to take a closer look at its complicated steelwork, pipes, ladders and bright lights. Old school industrial plant at its very finest!
Just as I was beginning to set up a CSX coal drag train appeared in the distance. The tripod went up very quickly indeed. There wasn’t time to take a light meter reading, I had to take an educated guess based on experience. Fortunately fifteen seconds, f/8, ISO64 turned out to be just right.
The train’s lights drew lines across the plant, converging on the right of the frame. Its ditch lights left pulses above the trails. The rails carried the eye toward the same convergence point and even the utility wires down the right edge caught the light. A small blue building complemented all that amber nicely.
There’s a lot happening in this photograph but all the movement ties it together.
Calgon Carbon plant, Catlettsburg, Kentucky with passing CSX train
The first 18×12 print was the moment I knew I had something I wanted to pursue. The photograph is more satisfying when it is a physical object, especially when there are so many small details to reward a closer look.
18×12 inch print of Calgon Carbon plant, Catlettsburg, Kentucky
The evening also produced some more detailed looks at the plant’s machinery. One cylindrical structure, wrapped in pipes and platforms, particularly caught my attention. As I was leaving a shower of sparks poured out from its side, ensuring the necessity of a revisit.
Carbon Reactor, Calgon Carbon, Catlettsburg, Kentucky
I’ve always loved photographing cool, interesting industrial settings, and I’ve been pondering an industrial collection for years. The evening in Kentucky helped to turn that pondering into a decision. Once the Chicago collection is complete, I’ll be working on a photographic study broadly following the Ohio River. Its backbone will be industry, with room for the landscape and places around it.
It’s an enormous, long-term project and will run alongside other collections, but much of it is within easy reach of home. That makes repeated trips possible to learn the locations and respond when the light and weather promise something interesting.
I would love to see a book developing alongside the limited-edition collection, allowing space for more details and photographs that contribute to the wider story. I want this to be a study of an active, working region looking forward, not of decline and abandonment. There will be research, conversations and unsuccessful outings along the way.
This will take years. I can’t wait to really get into it.
Sometimes all one needs is some camera time…