Gods & Machinery
Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 08:00AM text & photography by Patrick La Roque
They come to tame the dragon, deep in the heart of its den. I follow them into a half-light I’ve come to associate with ceremonial spaces; this is a temple to motor oil, dust and gasoline.
The machine is massive, built to plow through dense northern trails thick with freshly fallen snow. But today it refuses to budge. Its steel frame shudders in fits and hiccups but the motor won’t start; such a capricious old beast.
Get the tools out. Sharpen those swords.
Screw this, loosen that. I’m circling & lurking as the ritual takes place. It’s all very quiet, the silence only broken by muffled questions & puzzlement. There’s no banter, just slow, rational work: from one to two, then two to three. Connect the dots. Solve the puzzle.
Suddenly, without warning, the Thing roars.
Exit the warrior priests.
Reader Comments (8)
Great post, I love the last shot!
Great images! I really like your use of light and shadow.
Great photos, and I love your post-processing. How do you achieve this look? It's interesting, yet it doesn't look overdone like you see so often these days.
@Hugo and @Ian: Thanks guys :)
@Carsten: Thanks. It's a look I'm experimenting with based on VSCO Film 03. It really doesn't work on everything and very much depends on the light and the mood of the images. I thought it fit nicely in this case. Glad you like it :)
Love these, especially that second photo. Great job Patrick.
This is wonderful! I love your photos and the whole concept of the website. Great stuff! Can't wait to spend some time on the other essays.
These are fantastic. They have a real cinematic feel to them. I also love the ambient light coming in from outside. What is the difference between the VSCO presets and camera profiles? I'm new to PP. Did you use multpile presets for these photos or just one?
@Robert-Paul: I'm a bit late but thanks man :)
@Jessica: Thank you very much!
@ Luke: Thanks. The VSCO presets have embedded camera profiles that are used when applied to raw files. But even when used on jpegs the Fuji presets will look much different from the Standard versions. I always create my own presets based on the characteristics of various VSCO film emulations. I love this ability to mix and match. These images all used the same preset as a starting point but were processed individually to accommodate the light, the colour etc...