Scott Lothes

2008 Conference: Scott Lothes

Portland, Oregon, “Lessons from Great Writers for Railroad Photographers”

As a photographer, the most important lesson I have learned from reading literature is that great writing, the kind that endures, serves a purpose. Those purposes can be wide-ranging, but in some way or another, all great writing reflects the world in which it was created. Emerson’s and Hawthorne’s purpose was to warn of the developments railroads would bring; Thomas Wolfe delineated class differences by the walls of Pullman cars; Jack Kerouac portrayed the interconnectedness of the vast American landscape through the universality of railroading.

Read the full text of Scott’s presentation at: http://www.scottlothes.com/writing/lessons.htm