Slow smoke pours from towering stacks into the still air, day and night. Minerals are pulled from the ancient desert ground and form the heart of industry in Mount Isa. I think everyone smokes, drinks, and wears a vest in this place. It must be a tough life out here.
Everything seems caked in sweat and dust. The soil is red and orange, and lazy heat hangs in the air. Abandoned mines are something of a tourist attraction here. Of course, I’m attracted to those ruined places.
I take the opportunity to walk around the motel late at night. Likely, most people are sleeping or watching TV drowsily. What strikes me are the warm colours and the long walkways. I imagine the owners wouldn’t be too interested in using the photos for marketing purposes!
A friend of mine tells me he likes the orange and yellow lights. They make him feel comfortable. I agree – they’re nicer than the new clean white lights. They’re atmospheric. They go well with the heavy air and the smokestacks.
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Very nice photos. The lonely spaces, straight lines and colors remind me of some of Edward Hopper’s paintings. It’s not that they look like any of his paintings, they just evoke the feeling of some of his work.
Thanks John. I can see that. Not that I have been inspired by Hopper, but ordinary quiet things, lonely objects and places, and melancholy do attract my attention.
Fine series. The mood, colors and light are dramatic and despite the lonely setting, they’re inviting.
Thank you Jane. Appreciate you stopping by 🙂
The colours ARE warm and inviting ( and I agree with your friend. For this reason I’ve NEVER bought ‘cool white’ light bulbs! They’re horrible and clinical. They mess with your circadian rhythm, too. Warmer light feels cozy, somehow, like a fireplace, or a campfire).
Although I’ve not been to Mt Isa, you describe it the way I imagine it. I can’t imagine it’d be an easy place to exist. (I’m honestly too chickenshit to go there on my own, lol. I’m not sure how safe a place it’d be for a solo woman? Maybe it’d be fine. I’m happy to live vicariously through other people’s photos of the place for now, anyway, haha).
Anyway, yeah. Cool ( or should i say “warm” ) interior shots. The orange/ yellow colours make all the difference. The mood would be totally different- and far less inviting- if the walls were grey or white, or if these were B&W shots.
Mt Isa is quite big. The skyline is dominated by those smokestacks, which is interesting. Certainly a rougher element in places where only locals might go, but lots of places to eat and a few lookouts. I’m not sure one could make a week of it, but the abandoned mines in the area are worth a look. Further north, Karumba is worthwhile for the gorgeous sunsets over the gulf of Carpentaria! Having been misinformed, we all thought that the sunset was really nice but not as spectacular as we’d all been led to believe, so dinner was had. Of course, that was only part 1 of the Karumba sunset and part 2 happened whilst dinner was being eaten and I had no camera! And let me tell you, part 2 of the sunset, after the sun had dipped, was incredible – a bright orange sky, such as I’d not before seen, like a dome of gold light. Everything was bathed in that glow.
Dangit! I imagine that must happen a lot to photographers- magical scenes unfolding the minute you put the camera away! I’m not even a proper photographer, and it happens to me all the time…..gives me an extra appreciation for the dedication of professional wildlife/nature photographers. For every breathtaking shot, I’m sure there were hours, days, and weeks of nothing before it.
At those times, I remind myself that seeing the world with my own eyes and immersing myself in it, rather than through a viewfinder, is the most important and best experience.