Apolitically Incorrect » Photography

Barn Architecture

Rob Oakes — Sat, 09 May 2009 20:21:58 +0000

There is a reason why the tuxedo hasn’t changed in more than a century. Put simply, there is no need for it to. Unlike other things, it doesn’t need to evolve or mold itself to the fashions of the current age. It’s just fine the way it is. It’s traditional.

And barn architecture should be traditional. They are practical buildings, and as a result should be made of relatively impractical things. That means natural materials. Most of the structure should be made of wood (preferably oak) or stone with big timbered logs being an even better choice. Steel and concrete can be acceptable, but edge out on the tacky side.

Thus, there is only one word to describe the structure being proposed by MVRDV and Mole Architects near Suffolk in the United Kingdom: travesty. (Though monstrosity comes remarkably close as well.) First, they are proposing an “open” architecture with beautiful bay windows and gobs of free-space. While barns can certainly be open, they should not include bay windows. Have you ever seen the type of slime a dedicated horse can produce? Second, it’s made out of modern materials: specially treated steel and composites … and it’s cantilevered. Words do not even begin to describe how wrong it is to cantilever a barn. (Even if it is really a vacation home that some hack decided to call a barn. I would never house animals, much less people in such a disgusting and clearly unsafe building.)

Traditional barns are so much better. Traditional barns have character.

Photos of Horses

Rob Oakes — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 19:13:33 +0000

It’s a beautiful day outside. We've been very lucky to have five or six such beautiful days in a row. They are the type of beautiful day that generally encourages irresponsibility and miscellaneous recklessness. The practical and otherwise successful have argued that being able to put off temptation, in this case enjoying such an amazing day, show the type of tenacity required for achievement. They’re probably right, and while I might make claims on practicality; I harbor no delusions of success. As a result, yesterday I decided to lay aside work and do things other things.

For the past several months, I have intended to write a series of small posts about basic and not so basic horsemanship. Part of this desire stems from an utter dearth of information on important things: rawhide braiding and the making of a saddle horse, amongst others. While I have the posts more or less drafted, I’ve felt that they lack a certain degree of clarity. Horsemanship is a visual and physical activity and cannot be learned from reading, no matter how clear the words. My little articles require pictures and illustrations. A beautiful day gave me the perfect opportunity to go and take those pictures. There was only one problem, I lost the telephoto lens to my camera several months ago.

(Actually, that’s not quite true. More accurately, I loaned my very expensive camera and telephoto lens to my younger brother so he could photograph a car race. The problem of having professional equipment is that everyone likes to borrow it. And while the camera returned, the telephoto lens did not. Of course, this isn’t his fault, it’s mine. After all, “You shouldn’t have loaned me the camera!” was his response when interrogated about the lens. The only response to such an accusation is, “Apparently not.” Persuading him that he should replace the lens is beyond my ken; short of breaking bones that is.)

Thus, I also used the beautiful day as an excuse to purchase a new telephoto lens. After all, I need spectacular photos! The lens a Quanta-Ray, 18 mm to 200 mm zoom with a 3.5 to 6.3 F aperture. If you don’t follow the numbers, don’t worry. Just know that my new lens does wide angle to super-zoom, very nice! Oh, and it has image stabilization. I decided that horse photography requires image stabilization. The fact that I’ve never owned a stabilized lens is a mere detail.

With the right conditions (a beautiful day), and the right equipment (telephoto lens); I figured that I could easily create stunning photographs that would wow, amaze and generally illustrate my points and desires. After all, the pros make it appear so easy!

As the first photo of this post shows (which I grabbed from iStockPhoto.com), horses and cowboys with a helping of dust make for an amazing image. Of course, part of this is due to the mythology of the cowboy, but a great deal more is simply due to a fantastic visual elements.

Turns out, though, that taking incredible photos of horses and riders is substantially harder than taking photos of landscapes and sunsets. During a stint where I fancied myself a pro photographer, I learned that amazing photo shoots require absurd attention to detail. Like painting or illustration, beautiful photography is all about fore-thought and planning.

Great landscape photographers will often visit the site where they intend to take their photos the day prior. They think about where they want to be and at what times they need to be there. This doesn't work when trying to photograph horses, in fact, horsemanship is essentially a chaotic exercise.

There is a reason why so many clinicians present their material in free form. You have to adapt to the horse, not the other way round. You can’t walk into a stall and patiently explain the material before hand, or the goals of a planned session. Some horses insist on thinking and voicing their opinions. I generally find this particular insistence to be quite obnoxious, at least when it comes to photography. (It's one of the main reasons I'm fairly dedicated to horsemanship at all other times.) For my little photography session, I wanted to work on one thing, and the horse I was riding decided that we needed to work on another. Quite unfair, if you want my honest opinion.

After a half hour of wasted shots, I finally decided to adapt to the conditions and I was pleasantly surprised. Rather than try and take photos for my posts, I decided to capture the stories unfolding around me in the arena. Some of those stories were practical (and the photos will work great for my series of articles), while others were more artistic. I figured that some of the artistic shots deserved their own post. Enjoy!

Forgotten Places – Sewell, Chile

Rob Oakes — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:50:45 +0000

I've been doing a bit of research for a short writing project. While doing so I came across this post over at WebUrbanist. Though it is a bit of an oldie, it is still a goody! In brief, the author looks at twenty four abandoned towns and cities from all over the world trough mini-photo essays. Reading through the descriptions and looking at the images sent my wander-lust far into the red-zone. Ever thought about diving the ruins at Alexandria?

Me and Sewell

(Photo) The supply train arriving from Rancagua. The train was used to carry supplies and other materials as well as men. Everything at the site had to be brought in.

I found the little blurb on the town of Sewell, Chile to be particularly interesting as I've been to Sewell. While living in Chile during 1999 and 2000, I and several friends made a day-trek to the place. At the time that I went, I didn't have anything better to do and so I didn't know anything about it. Neither, for that matter, did any of my friends. We were there because a few of the locals said that it was an important part of Chilean history and that we should visit. So, we did.

Unreal only begins to describe the experience. Rather than a town, Sewell might better be described as a temporary labor camp that grew roots and notions. It is built on the side of an outrageous cliff and was only accessible via train. We started our visit by piling onto the labor bus for the mine workers and then spent the next two hours winding our way up dirt roads that climb from Rancagua (near sea level) to the camp, which is above 6000 feet.

As the town was built off the side of a mountain, it has no streets (this becomes obvious when you look at a photo of the place; the impression you get when there is even more impressive). You can only get around via the (many) stairs. What is truly bizarre, however, is that everything is still there! A lot of things look like the workers just stepped out and will probably be right back. The brightly colored buildings are still bright and the "streets" are in excellent condition. In fact, some of the accommodations appeared more comfortable than my apartment in Rancagua.

(Left) The abandoned mining city of Sewell, Chile during the 1930s. Sewell was finally closed in 1977, some ten years after the mine (known as El Teniente) was nationalized by the Chilean Government.

At its time, the place was an absolute thriving metropolis. There were 16,000 people that lived there from all over the world. Even more impressive, it thrived in what was otherwise a wasteland. Though 6000 feet certainly isn't the roof of the World, the mountains surrounding El Teniente are fairly barren and host snow for much of the year.

If you get a second, head over to the Wikipedia page and read a bit more about the place. Also be sure to check out the Retro Ski page, which has some really cool pictures.

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Barn Architecture

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