Evaded the Statute, but Made a Picture

“Cables” is the pictorial result of several months' study of the Brooklyn Bridge towers. When I found the composition I wanted, the rest was easy. Except for the police. To a Bridge policeman anything on a tripod is a movie camera, and that means: “Some guy's gonna jump! Where's he at?” I evaded, not the law, but the majesty thereof—and with an 8×10 view camera.

The light was bad. (My lens would give an optical savant brain fever; I designed it myself.) I used the rising front to the limit, and stopped down to F:11 to cover the plate. Result, under-exposure, at one-sixtieth. I developed first in Rodinal, 1:120; then finished in Rodinal 1:30. Stanley plates can endure much cruelty. The print for reproduction is made on matte Azo, soft, using strong M.-Q. developer.

Arthur D. Chapman.