The Black Train Hauling Blood, Sweat and Tears

 PHOTO- INTERVIEW 

THE BLACK TRAIN HAULING BLOOD SWEAT AND TEARS 

| The BLACK TRAIN Hauling Blood Sweat and Tears | ISBN: 9786055940-49-2 | Dimension, 16 cm x 15 cm | Page, 72 | Text, Erdal Yazıcı | Desing, Illustration, Vahit Akça | Photograph, Erdal Yazıcı | English Translation, Proofreading, Deniz Genceolu | Paper, glossy 200 gr |

In the spring of 1990, what distinguished this train, which is carrying coal between coal mines and Karadeniz Ereğli, from other steam locomotives is that its load was labour. The “Black Train” was carrying both the miners and the coal they had mined under the ground with a ceaseless effort; the train was drawing its strength from the coal kneaded with the sweat of the miners. The miners were tired, the “Black Trains” too… A short while after the final journey, steam locomotives were pulled into warehouse to sit in a corner and fall into decay.

I wonder where the “45017” and the “45001”, which have transported miners and their labour and which I had the chance to witness their final journey and the other steam locomotives are now? Are they sitting in ruins in a corner of the Ereğli Railway Station?

What about the memories? The memories of miners, machinists, stokers, and their relatives longing for their return… They are now all hidden in the depth and sadness of the black and white photograph. The coal black colour of the “Black Train” has merged into the steam white colour of the photograph; the two almost complemented each other. The sadness of the “Black Train” met with the sadness of the black and white photograph. These faded photographs are the only attestations of those “moments” and those memories. 

Tags: erdal yazici, black white, photography, locomotive train, photo-reportage