This pair of tunnels in Providence was built in 1914 to allow electric streetcars - called trolleys - access to the East Side. This section of the city is at sea level, but the East Side is on a glacial moraine and gains several hundred feet very quickly. The slope was too great for the trolleys, and is still a challenge for modern buses. The tunnel provides a much gentler slope for the trolleys and is still used today by the state's local bus service.
My plan for today was to photograph the tunnels with (hopefully) a crowd of people waiting under the shelter for a bus to the East Side. Part of the plan was dashed when I saw a bus pull up to the stop while I was still a half block away. Fortunately, there were still a couple of people sitting at the bus stop when I took this photo. Even better, though, were the two RISD students that decided to cross while I was composing my shot. They added some life to what would have otherwise been a very sterile composition.
Post processing started with a classic filter in Topaz B&W FX. I adjusted color sensitivity sliders, adaptive exposure, regions, boost black, boost white, and contrast. A levels adjustment and sepia photo filter were added in PSE.
