Slow TV: Dewanganj to Dhaka
Watch photographer Toby Smith's stunning 6 hour train ride in full 4K
Watch a 6 hour train ride in full 4K
Slow TV is a medium that (outside of Norway) we’re just beginning to come to terms with. Following the success of 90 minutes of the South China Sea(a film that did everything it said on the tin), London based photographer Toby Smith booked one of the longest train rides in Bangladesh so he could film continuously from the window.
Smith’s latest 6 hour slow-TV feature is shot in stunning 4K resolution and presented without a single dropped frame or interruption to either image or sound. The journey begins in the quiet rural North of Bangladesh, with the sunrise streaming through vegetation and reflecting off paddy fields. After 5 hours the landscape begins to close in on the trackside revealing many of the development issues that face this rapidly growing and urbanising country. The result is (we think) the longest continuous 4K video online, and it’s quite something.
So what is slow-TV’s appeal? “For some it is simply digital wallpaper for their screen or TV, the narratives are quietly observed and evolve slowly,” explains Smith. “As the films are not constructed, edited or constrained to specific chapters, storyboards or scheduling they make for a genuinely relaxing and intriguing experience. I think good Slow TV also incorporates a degree of gentle tension, something may happen, what might be round the next corner?”
The slow movement is slowly gaining traction; we've seen slow games, slow tech and plenty of slow journalism, perhaps now it's time to sit back and slow down what's on our screens.
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