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BRIDGE
OF DREAMS
THE RE-BIRTH OF THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE
Burhan
Dogancay
During 1986-87, shortly after celebrations
of the Brooklyn Bridge's centennial, Burhan Dogancay undertook
to photograph the heroic icon workers involved in the bridge's restoration.
In order to do so, he had to climb with them as high as the parapet
hundreds of feet above the East River on freezy, windy days. Because
of the safety nets draping the bridge, and because of the artist's
camera eye, Dogancay's photographs transcend their documentary
function, becoming workds of art in their own right. With these
exclusive platinum prints, Dogancay presents the Brooklyn Bridge
as it has never been seen before, more surreal, mysterious, more
magnificent than ever.
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The Brooklyn Bridge is currently represented in the Museum of the City
of New York's 20th century exhibition, NYCentury: World Capital, Home
Town, 1900-2000, with one of Dogancay's large-scale photographs from
this series (cover of the book).
These photographs are featured in a recent book, entitled Bridge
of Dreams, with an essay by noted writer from Brooklyn, Philip
Lopate. Lopate states in the book "Bridge of Dreams":
| Dogancay's photographs dramatize the tense
play of light and shadow in the Brooklyn Bridge's form: the granite
arches that loom like minarets, beckoning the traveler to prayer.
They draw our attention to the haunting shadow of the bridge on
water. They accentuate the serpentine plunge of the railing, like
a roller coaster descending into the high-rise city. They retrieve
the chiseled historic detail of stonework, the justaposition of
Victorian lamps with postmodern artifacts. They obsess over the
relationship between the bridge and the metropolis: on one side,
flambopyant, vertical Manhattan; on the other, a more horizontal,
vastly spread-out Brooklyn. But most of all, they document the
terrifyingly acrobatic intrepidity of the ironworkers, these skywalkers
who function, as the saying goes, without net. |
Dogancay's photographs of the Brooklyn Bridge
are also on display in large format at JFK International Terminal 4
through the fall 2000.
The Brooklyn Bridge is currently represented
in the Museum of the City of New York's 20th century exhibition, NYCentury:
World Capital, Home Town, 1900-2000, with one of Dogancay's large-scale
photographs from this series (above photograph and also cover of the
book). This was chosen from the museum's collection of 500,000 photographs.
"Bridge of Dreams - Rebirth Of Brooklyn Bridge", Photographs
by Burhan Dogancay, Introduction by Phillip Lopate
Hudson Hills Press, New York, 1999
DOGANCAY
BIOGRAPHY PAGE
DOGANCAY'S
HEARTS
"BRIDGE OF DREAMS"
TV program
Also see>
ARE WE A REFLECTION
OF BLACK HOLES?
(With Dogancay's
Hearts)
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