Golden Gate

I don't want to belabor the bridge theme but I had to call out the Golden Gate as being the bridge I am most fascinated with and most enjoy shooting. Something about the sight of it, the unique color, it's location, the improbability of its construction, and of course it's dark side. A walk across the bridge is pretty special and gives you a strong sense of all of these things. I'd be lying however if I didn't admit it is the darker side of the bridge that is particularly compelling to me. Let's just write this off to...say...morbid curiosity and leave it at that. But the facts are pretty interesting...it has become second to Mount Mihara, a volcano in Japan, as a place to commit suicide. Current estimates peg the known number of people who have met their demise in this fashion at over 1,400. It's a 220 foot plunge and it takes four seconds to hit at over 80 miles an hour. Standing on the bridge looking over, it's every bit as terrifying as it would seem and it's hard to imagine wanting to go out this way. Particularly when you are in a place that seems to scream hey, look around you, amazing, these are some of the things that make life worth living.  ...Not that simple of course, but it's this contrast that gives the bridge it's unique, if not sometimes disturbing character.  This documentary is one of my favorites and does a fantastic job of exploring this contrast.