Glebe Island Bridge with full moon1997
David Moore took thousands of photographs documenting the construction of the Glebe Island Bridge during the mid-1990s. At that point in his life, Moore had 50 years of professional experience as a photographer behind him; this project provided him with the opportunity to develop a mature series of work which brought together two of his favourite themes: Sydney Harbour and industrial engineering.
‘Glebe Island Bridge with full moon’ was taken a few years after Moore had completed and published his documentation of the construction process. As such, the image has an air of reminiscence, with the controversial bridge shown to be finally nestling into the Sydney skyline. Like many of Moore’s more personal photographs, this shot was captured with a long exposure that softens the instantaneous, documentary aspect of photography and pushes the image into a more contemplative space.
(2014)
Gelatin silver prints are black-and-white photographic prints that have been created using papers coated with an emulsion of gelatin and light-sensitive silver salts. After the papers are briefly exposed to light (usually through a negative), a chemical developer renders the latent image as reduced silver, which is then fixed and washed. This technique was first introduced in the 1870s and is still used today. Most twentieth-century black-and-white photographs are gelatin silver prints. They are known for being highly detailed and sharply defined prints with a distinguishable smooth, even image surface.
