Christopher Perez
Born in 1956, Christopher Perez holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California, Irvine. He worked briefly as a black and white print technician in Hollywood and Irvine, California before moving on to work in aerospace as a software design engineer. Chris’ interest in photography began early in life when his grandfather shared the near-mystical magic of print making in a small makeshift darkroom in the garage.
|
|
Chris currently works as a software engineering manager in Portland, Oregon. He spends much of his free time expanding his knowledge and participation in the creation of photographic arts.
Statement
One day, about a decade ago, I was outside taking a break from work when I heard a strange whistle. A colleague nodded knowingly, smiled, and said “Just wait until you see this!” Up the railroad tracks not a couple hundred yards away roared a most wondrous sight. Belching, bellowing, steaming, thrumming and swaying it way north, drove SP 4449, a built in 1941 Southern Pacific streamlined steam locomotive. An artistic concept sprang instantly to mind and I knew a new photographic project was about to begin.
A little research led me to a roundhouse, where three steam locomotives are worked. Everything required to keep these old beasts alive and running, is also housed there. The massive doors, the black painted metal, the dimly lit recesses, the complex surface details, the tall north facing windows, and the sheer scale of everything about the place has kept me coming back for nine years. Each time I return, I search for new ways of sharing, in image, the joy I have, that begun amongst these enormous metal dinosaurs.
Over time, the original concept expanded to include other trains and railroad artifacts. Whether it’s the tracks just outside the roundhouse or early diesel electric locomotives resting quietly on a siding in Napa or Sonoma, California, my eye seems to be attracted to the way light moves and bounces off aging metal.
|
