By
Roy Inman
Piece description from the artist
Union Station Kansas City is America's second-largest train station, after Grand Central Terminal in New York. In the early days of Kansas City's station the huge building had no air conditioning and windows were wide open in the summertime. Lots of dust from the city wafted in. Steam engines huffed and puffed airborne particles into the interior, and lots of passengers and visitors smoked. Consequently, it was a common occurence to see beam particles of sunlight streaming across the enormous Grand Hall. After the restoration was completed in 1999, air conditioning and a sophisticated air scrubbing system was installed. Windows were sealed shut, the station was buttoned up tight, and the phenomenon of particles in the air bouncing around on sunbeams was hardly seen again. Until some unusual occurrence like an indoor barbeque event or, as in this case, an unfortunate fire at one of the station's restaurants. No one was harmed in the fire and it was quickly extinguished. But I was able to catch a glimpse of what it must have looked like back in the day.
Roy Inman's "Checkered photography career," as he refers to it, hints at the extensive variety of images he has created and the considerable amount of geography they represent. It all began shooting floods, fires and accidents in the wilds of Kansas City, Kansas decades ago. A time-lapse summary of his publications work would include: Photography for Time-Life publications, Ebony, The New York Times, General Electric, The Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian Magazine, The Washington Post, Better Homes and Gardens, Trains Magazine, American Artist, and more.
Roy documented a "Day with the Goodyear Blimp" for the "Kansas City Star Sunday Magazine." It was a memorable assignment that provided him the opportunity to ride and actually drive the Goodyear Blimp! The Marine Amphib base on Coronado Island off the coast of California found him with a contingent of US Navy Seals, and another trip to the West coast was the jumping-off point for a junket with the USS Kansas City, and a helicopter airlift to board the USS Enterprise, America’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Another highlight was his five-year, 70,000-image documentation of the restoration of Union Station Kansas City, the second largest rail terminal in America, after New York's Grand Central Terminal. A couple of World Series', a Super Bowl, and a few Presidents later, Roy's focus shifted from documentary photography to the more interpretive side of image capture.
This new direction led him to collaborate with innovative, award-winning interior designer and empowerment author Kelle Katillac in the creation of two books: "House of Belief: Creating Your Personal Style," and "Kids' Sacred Places.” Roy has photographed entirely, or contributed to, more than a dozen books, and has photographed many calendars for the nationally-acclaimed Boelte-Hall printing company in Kansas City. His most recent books are: "City of Fountains: Kansas City’s Legacy of Beauty and Motion” and “Last Bite: 100 Simple Recipes from Kansas City’s Best Chefs and Cooks,” which featured food photography shot in a more simple, classic style than is typical.
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