Vent Shaft Crown, Copperas Works

I found this octagonal brick shaft on the edge of a derelict chemical works just as the haar rolled in off the estuary — that flat, directionless light that turns every course of brick into its own shadow. I loaded the Linhof with the last sheet I had and set the dark cloth against the wind. The mortar lines at the crown have been picking up mineral staining for a hundred and thirty years and I wanted every streak of it in the grain.