The Artful Engineer

Back roads are always fun to explore, and there’s a lot of them in Alabama. On one outing last summer, we drove a little ways south to a few points of interest in what turned out to be Winston County. The first spot we found was Corinth Church, built in 1884, disbanded in the early 1900s, revived in 1952. It has no electricity, an outhouse for plumbing, and still holds (“casual dress”) services Sunday mornings. It is on the North Alabama Hallelujah Trail of Sacred Places, a driving tour that covers 32 churches over 100 years old. (I realize this isn’t impressive to my European friends, but perhaps an equivalent novelty there would be finding 32 churches less than 100 years old.) There are a lot of these “trails” (really driving tours) planned out for north Alabama with various themes: train depots, waterfalls, barbecue, murals, wine, etc. Any of these provide a good basis for an afternoon drive.

These first two images take advantage of window light on the warmly-colored wooden pews. The glossy finish on the pew makes the most of this in the image above, and other pews barely visible in the shadowed foreground and to the sides give the image depth. Even though these form the foundation of the image, there is one detail that I am particularly grateful for: the two blankets carelessly left on the seat. I often find that my favorite images have a detail like that, some little thing that just makes the scene better. In this case, it is easy to picture someone bundled against the winter cold in an unheated church, even though at the moment it is summertime outside.

This next image repeats the pattern of the window panes four times in depth: the foreground window, the light (and shadow) on the pew beyond it, the silhouetted window on the far wall, and the greenery beyond. The shape of the two windows is similar, but reversed: perspective makes the near window narrow to the left while the far window narrows to the right. The building’s siding has texture, repeating horizontal dark shadows, and a chiaroscuro overlay from a tree overhead. There’s not much color, but the two bits that have it—the pew and the woods beyond the far window—provide contrasting accents.

This final image of the church is a closeup study of textures. The dark shadows running horizontally give the overall image its structure. The knot is the obvious focal point of the image, but the small dark shadow in its center has so much contrast that it provides a firm anchor—that is definitely where the eye jumps to before wandering off to explore the textures and patterns in the wood.

Transitioning away from the church to a natural area several miles away, we find a very different study in texture. This image almost looks like a tight view of the Earth from space.

The next two images obviously feature the same tree, but I think it is interesting to see how different the two compositions are despite being taken within about ten feet of each other. This first image feels like a cave with a hole in the roof. The shadows add a lot of mystery, as does the fact that the tree disappears above. The shape of the hole above and the patch of light below echo each other, tying the frame together, and the curve in the tree—the detail I am grateful for here—stands out against the dark beyond.

This final image makes it clear that this is not a cave—at least not anymore—but a natural bridge. The perspective in this image is obviously emphasizing that bridge of rock, and the tree is now merely part of the supporting cast.

Thanks for visiting!