The Morrison Bridge that we know is the third generation of this bridge. The first generation was the first bridge built in Portland over the Willamette River. That bridge was built in 1887 and had a toll of 15 cents for horse drawn carriages and a nickel for pedestrians. The current version is a bascule style bridge that was completed in 1958.

The Morrison is notable amongst photographers due to the placement of the Ferris Wheel every year during both Cinco de Mayo and the Rose Festival celebrations. It is also notable for the colored lights displayed on the concrete piers supporting the span. For a fee ranging from $100 a night to $1200 a month you can even have the lights display a color pattern of your choosing.

I have started doing a series of studies of the bridges of Portland, all done on Hasselblad with Kodak Tri-X and photographed at night. They are ranging from abstracts to scenics, and were initially inspired by this series of the Fremont that I did late last year.

Tags:   Morrison Bridge night urban architecture city film Kodak Tri-X Zeb Andrews photography bridge square dark Blue Moon Camera

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The Morrison bridge is named for John L. Morrison, who was the first person to build a home on what is now Morrison St.

This is a section of the curving pedestrian on ramp that leads up to the bridge. I have long suspected that this shot was out there somewhere, it just took til this night to realize it.

Tags:   Morrison Bridge Portland Oregon Pacific Northwest square architecture night urban city dark film Zeb Andrews photography lights PDX bridge Hasselblad 500C Kodak Tri-X Blue Moon Camera

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The third in my studies of the Morrison Bridge. I have only spent one night with this bridge so far, so I certainly plan on returning to it, particularly approaching it from deeper in SE and from the SW as well as the deck. But this night was a good start and I wanted to move on to the other bridges. Since then I have spent nights with the Fremont, Broadway, Hawthorne, Marquam and last night the Steel. I already feel like I have the St. Johns Bridge fairly well covered. :-p So next up will be the Burnside, Ross Island and Sellwood. They all promise to be challenges, but then again, the Morrison was a challenge and I came out of it fairly well, so I am looking forward to those bridges and seeing what I can do with them. I actually have some good ideas already for all three.

The interesting challenge to all of these though is finding some aspect of the bridge to photograph that is unique to it, that communicates some sense of its character. Sure, on one level these are studies. Studies in architecture and engineering and design and such. But in another sense, they are also portraits. A good portrait captures a sense of the person, some aspect of their personality or character, it makes you feel like you know them, at least a little bit, even without ever having met them. So I have been trying to approach this not just as a documenting of the bridges. Setting up and taking say, the same wide angle shot of each one, but rather finding a photo, or three, for each that is unique to that bridge.

So far so good, I think.

Tags:   Morrison Bridge architecture bridge city Portland PDX urban cityscape night film square Hasselblad 500C river Willamette River Zeb Andrews photography Kodak Tri-X Blue Moon Camera

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Had a really good walk around the Burnside and Morrison bridges a few weeks back. This time I concentrated on the west side in Waterfront Park. The biggest difference in locations is people. The eastside has many fewer people this time of night and most of them are running - not from me per se - usually just for recreation. In Waterfront Park though, the pace is much more leisurely which means I was able to surreptitiously work a few of them into my photos.

Tags:   Morrison Bridge bridge Portland PDX Oregon night urban city square film Hasselblad 500C Kodak Tri-X park telephoto Bridgetown Blue Moon Camera

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One thing I do know, it doesn't rain under bridges...

It was a wet one today though, and it rains by waterfalls. But none of that is related to bridges. :-p

Anyway, I liked the looming presence of the Morrison in this one, juxtaposed against the city as a backdrop.

Tags:   Morrison Bridge bridge city PDX urban Portland night square film Kodak Tri-X Hasselblad 500C Oregon architecture traffic Zeb Andrews photography buildings Blue Moon Camera

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