Richard Steinheimer, one of the greatest railroad photographers who has ever lived, passed away today May 4th, 2011. May he now rest in peace. His beautiful photographs are what got me interested in railroads.
Ditto, one of the greatest ever. His amazing body of work surely must have made railroads more interesting to lots of people.
RIP, Richard Steinheimer
Stein’s work in TRAINS in the 60’s and 70’s served as a standard for me. I doubt that I even came close but it kept me trying to do better.
One can marvel at the many great, arresting images Stein concocted. They just had something about them. But, the popularity of color photography and even more so the proliferation of the digital age advancements …
!(http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff19/kpharrier/sunset ca-texas/DSC02507.jpg)
A Union Pacific ‘Sunset Route’ grade crossing by the 200-feet below sea level Salton Sea, California. In his lifetime, Mr. Steinheimer undoubtedly followed these tracks on the background cross street called Highway 111.
… kind of superseded the genius minds of the likes of Ansel Adams, Stein, and Benson. And, that is unfortunate, because all the greats sort of took a back seat, and we hardly ever got to see any of their new photo work anymore. What a shame. Black & white photography simply went bye-bye. Now, the dean of black & white railroad photography has gone bye-bye too …
Sorry, I don’t agree with that sentiment. Photography is still about light and the names you mentioned all were masters of light. Digital has made life easier, but the guidelines St. Ansel set years ago are just as applicable today as they were when he made Moonrise, Hernandez, NM. Also, isn’t Ted Benson still alive? And doesn’t he work in color?
Again, I’m going to have to disagree with you. While traditional film based B&W work is a niche to be sure, it’s a thriving one. Ignoring that, it’s really easy to make a B&W shot digitally and many photographers do so quite successfully. I would venture to say that if a photographer can’t use light, form and composition to make a compelling photograph in B&W then he or she won’t be able to make a particularly engaging color photo, either.
Richard Steinheimer was definitely one of the giants of railroad photography and will certainly be missed. At the same time, there are a lot of genuine new talents out there. Many of them have looked to the works of photographers like Steinheimer to inspire them. I would suggest that we celebrate a lifetime of memorable images rather than declare the hobby dead.
Just my 1/50th of a dollar.
Not just a fantastic photographer, but an innovator. He did things like nobody else up to his time. Lots of us were inspired by his work …and are poor imitators!
“…carry him home to glory on the ‘Wabash Cannonball’.” Rest in peace Mr. Steinheimer. Ride easy on “The Night Train.”
My main memory of his work is from the 1970s Trains article on Cajon Pass.
The photos were striking and original.
However another well known black and white rail photographer said to me:
“After the end of steam, Richard never took a photograph with the sun on the same side of the train as himself…” and that was largely true. I guess it depends on whether you want a photo of the train or the scene…
M636C
CopCarSS (5-5):
Greetings!
What I was attempting to point out in my previous post was the popularity of digital color photography. Just thumb through any contemporary TRAINS issue. Most photos are in color now.
In 2008, triple-tracking of Cajon Pass (Southern California) took place. Color digitals documented much of that effort. The famous rock formations of Sullivan’s Curve are on the photo upper right.
Wet black & white photography had outstanding control qualities, and Adams and Steinheimer exploited those qualities to the full. Wet color film photography for the most part didn’t have those qualities. So, great photographers couldn’t manipulate color photography as they could with black & white. Thus, not surprisingly, little color work from the masters surfaced like it did with black & white.
About Adams’ famous Hernandez, NM photo … I’ve been to the site a number of times. While the cemetery is still there, the key building is not. The mesmerizing feeling one gets looking at Adams’ famous photo does NOT happen while seeing the site in person.
Masters of photography are like masters of the track realignments that occurred during the triple-tracking of Cajon Pass in 2008: They knew what they could and could not do. Steinheimer used to
Richard Steinheimer’s photographs captured the feeling of ‘being there’ so well that I often didn’t notice that they were in B&W. He didn’t need color to capture that effect. Perhaps being in a desert environment made that easier - but I don’t think so, not after seeing his photos of the Milwaukee Road’s electrics in their forested habitat, and esp. that one of a “Little Joe” in a tunnel at speed ! He was also one of the first to explore unconventional angles, views, and subjects in the railroad scene - I don’t know that he ever did a classic ‘wedge’ shot in the modern era (thank God !).
For me, it was his many photos of the SP over Donner Pass that were the most impressive, including in the snowsheds, and some snow scenes. Then he started writing ‘railfan guide’ type articles on the ATSF through Cajon Pass, Tehachapi Loop, and across Arizona, which brought out another aspect of his talent. And I can remember many of his photographs serving as the subject of one of David P. Morgan’s many ‘frontispiece’ essays, as well as illustrating other more conventional articles.
Mr. Steinheimer will be greatly missed - already has been, too, really, for the past few years. But he leaves an impressive legacy, not only in his own work, but in the enjoyment of railroading that he brought to many of us through his photos and Trains, and most especially in all of the other photographers - both amateur and professional - that he has inspired and mentored, one way or another, over the years. Thank you for sharing your talents while you were here with us, and thank you to his wife, Shirley Burman, for staying with him and preserving his works.
- Paul North.
Those with true vision are always missed when the pass…they see things everyone else overlooks and bring their visions to life.
RIP!