“…explorador de soledades…”"...en el cielo de las locomotoras,te reconoceríaporcierto airede lejos…"
*(Oda a los trenes del sur)
Ferromex runs parallel to the border in that area that cuts across the two Nogales. Travelling by car makes you loop around the desert, and at some point head North, then South again, as you pass Gila Bend. The area is so vast and magnificent it makes you want to stay there, forever. The tracks evoke romantic moments for me. In the movies I always see tracks and trains, especially when people run away... for love.
I like observing the colors of the desert. I was determined to make this picture revolve around the redness of the soil, and thought I would select some of the bushes in this mission. My project did not go anywhere, as once I modified the levels and the curves, there was not much to do in terms of color. My photo had its red train, however minute, and so red! And looking at it I was able to reach into the moment when I struggled to hold my camera steady fighting the wind, so strong. But how could I not be seduced by such colors. It was late October, the part of the year at which the weather is tolerable, and the moon, hard not to admire. I am sure every writer has taken on the subject of the October moons.
El título elegido para la fotografía es una cita textual de Ramón López Velarde "El tren va por la vía como aguinaldo de juguetería...". Debe ser la frase más pintoresca y sentida de todo ese crisol de sentimientos que es "La suave patria". Y hay otro evocador de trenes a quien a menudo me gustaría robarle sus imágenes de tren entre paisajes cuya inmensidad sobrecoge… ¿Lo adivinas? Es Pablo Neruda que escribió así refiriéndose a un tren.
Photo and text © María Dolores Bolívar
