For years I have been seeing photographs of a lovely bridge, reflected in a pond and surrounded by – depending on time of the year – snow and Christmas decorations, spring flowers and fall colors. Karin Pinkham is a Maine photographer who has made several splendid photographs of this bridge. I didn’t ask for her permission to show her photos here, but several examples can be found on her website: Flag, Flowers, Fall, More Fall, Winter. Spend some time on her site – she does beautiful work.
I knew that this bridge was in Somesville, somewhere near Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park in Maine in a place called Somesville Museum and Gardens. I imagined it as this idyllic place, hidden in a quiet forest with hiking paths and benches for contemplation and rest. Actually, it is right beside a busy road!
In most of the photos I have seen, the road is cropped out or well hidden behind greenery or with a low perspective. There’s a little parking lot, enough for about 10 cars, and there is always someone pulling in or out. It’s one of those places that few people actually look for but many people recognize. We were actually driving through town on our way to somewhere else, planning to find the bridge on our way back. When I saw it I said, “that’s IT?” But of course it was, just not in the context I had expected it to be.
The lesson for me is a reminder that not everything is what you imagine it to be. The power of photography, and particularly of composition, is to make a photograph of what something is, often without reference to its surroundings. It was an interesting place to see with my own eyes. I was not there at an ideal time, condition-wise, but I did make a few photographs to illustrate my points. I’m glad we took the time to check it out!
I’d never heard of her but may have seen one of her images of the bridge. I find the bridge to be quite interesting and photogenic. It would take a few visits through the seasons to find those opportunities offering images.
Definitely one of those places you would return to regularly!
As you said one of the more magical aspects of photography is framing scenes in a way that make them seem idyllic and serene when they’re just feet from a major highway or industrial site. Ben Horne recently did a video where he showed some of his best work and then revealed they were taken just steps from a Zion roadside.
I think Edward Weston (or was it Brett?) is credited with saying something like ‘the farther something is from the car the less photogenic it is.’ One of our roles is that of editor, and many are quite talented at it.