Here is a three-panel coloured woodcut from Japan. It shows the the first train to leave Yokohama. The print is from the late 19C.
I’ve always liked the graphic style of these images. I love the way the flat-colour 2D shapeshift into 3D and space…and that these images help invent the modern poster and the psychedelic experimentation of the 1960s.
I’ll be posting a few more railway themed images from Japan.
The French photographer, Robert Doisneau, has taken lots of pictures of the French railways…some of these were official, others were more informal.
This is an image of holidaymakers in la France profonde, circa 1940 it turns out.
I was amazed to find that the station, in the middle-of-nowhere, is Carlux, in the Dordogne. I know Carlux because my family have a house there. It is a tiny village, and I can confirm that it is, indeed, in the middle-of-nowhere.
Even more amazingly, Doisneau loved the area and had holidays there over a long period.
Who knows, I might even have seen him when I was small…
I wish I’d known that then.
PS I’ve been researching into Doisneau and the Dordogne…it turns out that he visited the area over a number of years and took photos of Sarlat and Souillac..and worked for the foix gras producers, Rougie. I’ll check it all out.
I looked more closely at the photo too. Look at the track; not many trains going through.
It’s been great to look at historic images of the people who ran the railways…
There are lots of photo images. You can imagine how delighted I was to discover that Salgado had been invited to document the life of the SNCF through its employees.
In France, the generic title for a railway worker is cheminot…an in the old days, the association with the railway provided for a secure and permanent employment. In fact, the French railway recruited, like the old British Civil Service, by examination.
One of the key roles on the railway was to look after the rural roads…and employees were given a small house of standrad form, next to a lvel crossing and wwith a vegetable garden attached.
I’ve been interested in the specific history of these vegetable plots for a while. I love it when various interest come together.
PS
I discovered that Robert Doisneau has also taken lots of ptictures of trains and people.
The French have a long tradition of coloured paper cut-out models…this story begins with paper figures associated with the playhouse and with the battlefield…
