Seibu Tamagawa Line - Photos of Construction Sites

Construction sites change day by day

My life's work is photographing the railway scenery along the Seibu Tamagawa Line, and while scouting locations along the line, I sometimes encounter construction sites.
For some reason, I just can't stop feeling excited when I see a construction site (laughs).
Why is that, I wonder??

Construction sites start from a vacant lot, but if construction begins next to the tracks, you can encounter scenes that can only be captured precisely because it is a vacant lot.
Places that were previously unshootable due to thickets or buildings suddenly open up, allowing for new angles in photography.
I'm not sure if it's to level the ground, but the vacant lot phase tends to take a surprisingly long time.

The vacant lot eventually sees construction begin one day, but at first, it's foundation work, so your view isn't suddenly obstructed.
When construction machinery appears from nowhere and work begins, my excitement reaches its peak! (laughs)

I've always loved taking pictures involving heavy machinery, and that feeling hasn't changed; I just keep snapping collaboration shots of heavy machinery and trains as if to say, 'I've been waiting for this!'
At first, I ask the workers for permission to take photos, but eventually, it becomes like, 'That strange person is here again' (laughs).

Once work begins at a construction site, the situation changes daily.
Since it's construction, the work just keeps progressing.
I don't go out to shoot every day, but it's not rare to find that the heavy machinery from the beginning is gone and replaced by large heavy machinery or cranes, and I diligently record the trains against that changing landscape.

Once the foundation work is finished, steel materials are brought in and assembled one after another using large cranes, and that's when the battle against time begins.
Yes, because the steel materials increasingly obstruct the view, and eventually, the trains running in the background become invisible.

In the past, there were times when the train in the background was visible in the morning, but by the time I came back in the afternoon, it was completely hidden.
The photographer naturally gets quite passionate about it.

Construction photos are highly documentary in nature, but looking at them this way, I feel they can also stand as works of art.
I can't exactly request the position or orientation of the heavy machinery's arm, but observing the flow of work and changing shooting positions to match the train's passing time might be one of the joys of it.

This time the content was quite niche, but I wrote it hoping you would view it as one of the scenes along the railway line.
If you ever encounter a construction site, try keeping a record of it as the state before completion so you can enjoy comparing the site once it's finished later on!

Well then, see you again!