Seventy-Five Views of the Golden Gate Bridge
These images are selected from a larger work-in-progress titled “Seventy-Five Views of the Golden Gate Bridge”—a collection of black and white photographs inspired by the Japanese artist Hokusai’s, “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji.” Following in Hokusai’s footsteps, I’ seek to capture the Golden Gate Bridge in a variety of seasons and weathers and moods.
I often tell myself that the Golden Gate Bridge is like a marvelous movie star with an unlimited wardrobe: she uses the fog as evening gowns, clouds as hairstyles, and the waves as her high-heeled shoes. As the wind continually shifts her garments, I do my best to capture the show.
Shooting the Bridge, I have run into many hidden challenges as well. Often the fog, wind, and stinging rain are so cold that I feel like I’m working in snow country. It’s almost as if the bridge has her own private weather systems, which she swirls and commands to protect her secrets long before I can even finish setting up my tripod. Even something as simple as getting permission to access the bridge often seems like an insuperable task, whether I’m dealing the City or with private home and office owners who sharing views of the bridge from their windows.
Most challenging of all, the Golden Gate Bridge is among the most frequently-photographed landmarks on earth: how then can I find fresh ways to capture her timeless beauty? This in turn means learning how to see the Golden Gate itself with fresh eyes—to transform a postcard landmark admired by millions into revelations frozen in time.
Check out the upcoming show at the
George Krevsky Gallery. San Franisco
