Universal Frame

A few years back I was able to travel to San Francisco. A pilgrimage of sorts. One thing that I really really wanted to experience was the Golden Gate Bridge. After having cycled in Napa Valley, a rented car would serve, for the journey to the hills. Camera on my lap, I waited in great expectation of seeing this marvelous bridge. A monumental connector that I had only seen photographs in magazines. Who knew, that in order to leave Napa and arrive in San Francisco early, one had to travel bumper to bumper in the thickest fog bank I had ever seen. The entire bridge was engulfed in fog. I might as well have been traveling on a road in New England, for there was absolutely no clue as to my location on this massive bridge. It was not until almost the very end of the bridge that I was able to finally get an image of her spectacular structure. A moment in the midst of fog. Developed, the picture lacked composition. Failure embraced disappointed. I tucked the photo into a book and forgot about it.

Six years later, I find myself reading a book about Annie Leibovitz. Page 15 of AT WORK, is a picture that Annie took of the Golden Gate Bridge during the 1970's. How interesting. Leibovitz's photo is 100 times more amazing. Fog is a feature, or at least it appears to be. A quick snappy 30 years earlier. Same frame, universal journey, yet Leibovitz, queen of all things pixelated, demonstrates why she is who she is. Gingerly, I embrace my limitations, discontented, as photog.