How I chose the title:

I was walking in the Don Valley (in Toronto) along the railway track and I saw a sign that read

TRAIN TIME
IS
ANY TIME

KEEP OFF
THIS BRIDGE

It stayed in my mind and I often would repeat it to myself. "Train time is any time" or "Any time is train time." In a black humour kind of way it evoked the constant possibility of doom - even though you don't see anything coming it may hit you at any moment. But on happier days the saying also came to represent adventure and possibilities of discovery. As long as you stay off the bridge and don't get hit, trains are exciting, they can transport you to exciting places.

When I started this new work I struggled with the idea of embarking on 'a series.' I had a lot of ideas that I wanted to try out but they weren't particularly related to each other and I didn't know which ones would work and develop and which ones wouldn't. So I decided to call this series "Train Time Is Any Time" and the title would have nothing to do with the work except in the most indirect way, in the sense that in each photograph something would be about to happen.

 

How I did the photographs:

I didn't use a computer. The reverse images are contact prints of a positive print used as a paper negative (see Peter Marshall's article on paper negatives at About Photography). In some cases I drew or painted on the positive print, in a few cases I added cut-outs from photocopies. Sometimes I photocopied a photograph and used that as the paper negative . The positive images are contact prints of the reverse images.

 

The photographs are printed on AGFA Classic MC111 fibre base (baryté) paper, processed in accordance with archival standards and dry-mounted on acid-free art board.

Each photograph is printed in an edition of 6, measures approximately 15 by 19 inches and is "Untitled."

 

view the photographs