THE COOPER RIVER BRIDGES
The Grace and Pearman
"I wanted a way to commemorate the bridges. And what
could be better than an exact physical record of the
drive you can hold in your hand?"
by Jane Williams
Soon after arriving in Charleston, I learned these two enormous bridges were closing. The Grace Bridge opened in 1929. At that time it was the highest bridge of its kind in the world. It was fifteen feet higher than the Brooklyn Bridge. To commemorate these beautiful Limited Edition Printsbridges I began painting them. I don't know what motivated me. I lived in Manhattan for sixteen years and I never painted the bridges. But there is something very free about the beauty of those Charleston Harbor bridges. Their majesty is partly because they're so long. The Grace is 2.71 miles. I paint water. I paint harbors and boats, so bridges are a logical extension of my love for anything to do with water. But in all actuality they attracted my eye mostly because of their architectural splendor.
One year ago, that was January 2005, I heard the Grace Memorial, and its partner the Pearman, would be blown up after closing. At that point I intended to film their big crash into the river mouth. Then, driving from Mount Pleasant to Charleston one day, the idea of continuous documentation that was not film or video occurred to me. I saw the way to commemorate the bridges was by producing a hand held movie -- yes, one can hold the experience of driving immediately in one's hand! I mean these enormous structures are not going to exist anymore.
Motion Picture
For me, cinema history study began at the Carpenter Center. It bears stating that I am a film purist, not even a term until the digital revolution. Seven years ago a SONY DCR-PC1 came to me, which was good because it was cheaper to shoot than with my Nikon 8mm. I loved the images, though sometimes struggled with the fact that it was cheap to shoot. Stills I shot with a vintage Olympus 35mm. Until last spring I had never used digital photography.
In 2001 I was asked to document a windsurfing competition. The DCR-PC1 facilitated the shooting. Hand-sized it was easy to hide from the blowing sand and water. And the picture quality is premiere. The Coupe Des Iles is in rural Quebec. My equipment shipment arrived after we had finished. This was fortuitous. Deprived of technical equipment, I discovered that I am a human Steadicam.
Persistence
It was because of the capture of competing windsurfers that I knew I could keep the camera absolutely steady. Shooting smoothly was key. Vicky Ingalls is an excellent driver. That was what I needed, the steadiness and reliability of the medium to document the bridges. I was very happy when she agreed to join the project.
Grace Bridge - by Jane WilliamsPersistence of vision refuted, my book "Grace Bridge" operates on a kinetic principle as an animated artwork. Each frame archives the road, the traffic, the trusses, but together they simulate the ride. I took about 1,300 photographs. Most of them work together to achieve the exhilaration of motion, of change and human activity. Each of them is also a unique still, available for purchase as a limited edition signed print.
One overriding thought I have is that the future must be the community's dreams. Over how many years has Charleston shaped itself and grown according to how it has treated its water, and its peregrinations around water. And even without the Grace and Pearman on its horizon, area travelers will recall what came before.