Rusting old machinery

[DanK]

In 1985, Sprague Electric, which employed much of the population of North Adams, in Western Massachusetts, closed, devastating the town. With private and public support, a campus of many abandoned factory buildings was converted into MassMOCA, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, a huge facility capable of housing very large installations.

One of the buildings full of machinery has been left open to the elements, allowing the equipment to rust. I spent some time there taking lots of photos, trying to capture the interesting patterns and textures. Mostly I have been gradually discarding them. Today I found the first one that I think I might want to keep. C&C welcome.

[flashback]

Dan, cool shot. Is this all one contraption or a couple just placed together?
Really like the pipes(?), have you considered a closer crop and...maybe B&W

[DEAN01]

Very nice shot, Dan. The pipes or vanes are very interesting.

[Mike Buckley]

Definitely better than "just" a keeper. I like the way the large machine anchors the scene.

[Manfred M]

This shot is of an old boiler (technically a "steam generator"). Feedwater would be supplied through the pressure vessel on the bottom and the tubes would be exposed to the heat from the burners. The hole you see is the inspection opening; the cover is missing, but you can see where the bolt holes are that were used to fasten it in place with A header that can't be seen in the image is where the steam would have been collected. Based on the size, it looks like it was a small "package" boiler.

[JBW]

Definitely a keeper. Just so many ways to go with this shot. Looking forward to seeing your choices

[Shadowman]

Nice composition.

[John 2]

Definitely worth keeping Dan, apart from which it is a fascinating piece of plumbing.

[dje]

Looks good to me too Dan. i could spend some time in that museum I'd say.

Dave

[IzzieK]

Looks good from here too, Dan...I was thinking the same as Jack ...why not a black and white version? Aahh the rust and the texture therein might not be so attractive in a monotone...

[DanK]

Thanks, all. Manfred, you hit the nail on the head--this building was the boiler house for part of the complex. There were 2 or 3 of these, occupying about half of the floor space.

I have been working on some shots of the pipes above the boilers, which form interesting patterns, but so far, nothing has been good enough.

Re B&W: I tried conversions of a number of other shots from this setting because I thought that it is mostly the shapes, lines, and textures that are interesting, but they were less interesting in B&W. I think the rust color, and the contrast between that and other colors, adds to the shot. However, I'll keep playing with it.

Jack, I took a bunch of much closer shots of the side of the boiler, framed in various ways. Turned out not to be very interesting, at least so far.

Anyway, this encourages me to work on the series some more. I'll post more if I get anything else worth sharing.

[Mike Buckley]

they were less interesting in B&W. I think the rust color, and the contrast between that and other colors, adds to the shot.

I've come to the same conclusion in the past when the rust itself was an important characteristic of the photo and when the rust wasn't flaky. When displayed in monochrome, the viewer didn't know the metal had become coated with rust.

[gregj1763]

To coin one of Donald's quotes, "rust is a wonderful colour" this is a great photo Dan so much to look at and explore