55 | 100 Golden Gate Bridge
from the series 100 Photos - 100 Stories
Foto Koch is celebrating 100 years and we're telling YOUR best stories, because without you we wouldn't be here today! Today's story by Dr. Wilhelm Bootsveld and features the Golden Gate Bridge.
Digitized slide taken with Fujichrome Velvia 100 slide film2.737 meters of steel
Our trip to the USA in 1991 was a classic: San Francisco, Highway 1, Los Angeles, etc. the round trip. In San Francisco we experienced the whole weather phenomenon: cold and foggy one day, warm and sunny the next. This photo was taken on one such sunny day in September 1991. It shows the Golden Gate Bridge, probably one of the most famous bridges in the world, without fog and with a beautiful view. The portrait format photo was taken at Fort Point (foreground below), the quasi southern end point of the bridge, still in analog format (Fujichrome Velvia 100 slide film), because digital photography did not yet exist (at least not in the amateur sector). I later scanned and digitized the slide. The photo was taken with a telephoto lens to enlarge the subject and also "bring in" the background. This created a condensed effect. Of course, I no longer know the time of day after almost 30 years, but because the shadow of the bridge in the photo on the right is on San Francisco Bay, it was taken with the sun in the west, close to the golden hour in the evening, hence the soft colors and the long shadow.
We were absolutely amazed that the bridge was opened as a suspension bridge back in 1937. It spans the Golden Gate, the natural entrance to San Francisco Bay. For a long time it was the longest suspension bridge in the world with a total length of 2737 meters. The span width is 1280 m and it is 227 m high. There are six lanes on the bridge, four of which serve the main traffic flow during rush hour. The red color of the bridge is actually a protective agent against corrosion and is called "International Orange", but it was left as it is because of the positive overall impression. The diameter of the main cables is 92 cm. Jumping from the bridge is fatal and unfortunately the Golden Gate Bridge is used for suicides, so it is also known as the bridge of death.
