Friday, October 10, 2008

Graymont Lime Plant








This plant crushes limestone then cooks out the CO2, leaving corrosive Calcium Oxide. It's then hydrated to reduce corrosiveness and then the final product used largely in mining (especially uranium) and in the oil industry. Lesser uses include whitening paper and making the Hydrocal that model railroaders use for tough as rock scenery.

Much of the plant is covered in white limestone powder and I wanted to emphasize the whiteness.

I hope to go back and spend more time photographing the plant. The staff were very supportive - in fact Michael Schultz had been there three weeks ago - odd really, I'd not heard of him but my friend Lawrence Christmas (known for his images of Alberta miners and the book made from same) had mentioned his name last weekend. I'll be interested to see how Michael interprets the plant.

2 comments:

Christoph Hammann said...

The first one on the top of the page is very reminescent of the Becher's typological series, the other ones taken closer up present a more subjective, involved view. I actually prefer the first one.

Anonymous said...

I'd like to see more contrast -- blacker blacks, deeper greys -- to emphasise the whiteness you're speaking of. For me, these simply look washed out.