Mirrored 2

February 11, 2012

A Lonely Walk Across

This pedestrian bridge was christened “The Bridge of Peace” and was officially opened in May 2010. Designed by Italian architect Michel De Lucchi and French lighting director Philippe Martinaud; the whole structure, including its 150m lighted canopy, is composed of glass and steel. The contemporary design was ordered by the city government of Tbilisi reportedly “to put the capital on the world’s architectural map”. I guess THAT purpose is being achieved to some extent.

I spent several long minutes looking for the right spot where I could get this angle and, after I have captured this photo, spent an incredibly long time staring at the mirrored image wondering what it resembled. A giant laundry clip?, a hamburger?, a monster trying to swallow a building? — I really can’t decide. Funny because when I got a chance to view it at night from afar, the soft neon lights under its transparent roof rhythmically changed colors from blue to green and then soft white creating an illusion (at least from where I stood) that the strange shape was actually breathing! It was just unfortunate that I didn’t get a chance to take a night time photo from this angle — another challenge I set myself to do if I get another chance to visit Tbilisi.

I had a lot of fun experimenting with the images of the bridge in various settings and treatments (The image in Mirrored 1 was a product of such experiments). For this image alone, I came up with six or seven versions before I eventually decided to post the simplest version to give viewers a more realistic idea about the bridge. Apparently, it also helped that it was autumn when I took the photo.