Bridge, Cumberland, Maryland 1991

This is a black and white photograph of the Bridge in Cumberland, Maryland, by James Welling. I am thinking about what Welling was thinking when he made this. Did he see this industrial architecture as beautiful? I think so, because this image finds beauty in the ordinary and the everyday; but it makes it abstract, right? What else could it be? The girders give a lattice-like effect, which creates depth and form. The shadows mimic the architecture and enhance the composition. There is a sense of movement and depth in the picture because of the shadows and the way the light falls on the architecture. It makes me think about Bernd and Hilla Becher, two German conceptual artists and photographers working as a collaborative duo. They are known for their extensive series of photographic images, or typologies, of industrial buildings and structures. Welling is in conversation with so many photographers here!