“The photograph should be
more interesting or more beautiful than what was photographed.”
~ Garry Winogrand
~1928-1984
~American street photographer from
the Bronx, New York, known for his
portrayal of U.S. life and its social issues, in the mid-20th century. Though
he photographed in California, Texas and elsewhere, Winogrand was essentially a
New York photographer.
I captured this shot, presented in
infrared, showcasing the Monocacy Creek meandering through a portion of the
Colonial Industrial Quarter, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on a late November
afternoon from my vantage point standing on the Broad Street Bridge on the
city’s north side. A car drives past the Conestoga Condominiums on Conestoga
Street at right. The Hill to Hill Bridge can be seen in the distance at right,
and the church steeples and rooftops that dot Southside Bethlehem are in the
distant vista.
The Colonial Industrial Quarter is
considered America’s earliest industrial park. Established by the colonial
Moravians along the banks of the Monocacy Creek, the ten-acre site contains
historic buildings such as the 1762 Waterworks – a National Historic Landmark –
1761 Tannery, 1869 Luckenbach Mill, 1748/1834 Gristmiller’s House,
reconstructed 1764 Springhouse and 1750 Smithy, as well as ruins of the
original 1749 Pottery, 1752 Butchery, 1765 Oil Mill and 1771 Dye House. This
location was chosen to take advantage of a spring that supplied potable water
and the power supplied by the Monocacy Creek’s flow for the craftsmen and
trades of early Bethlehem.
The Colonial Industrial Quarter is
part of the Historic Moravian Bethlehem Historic District which was designated
as a National Historic Landmark District in 2012 and later named to the U.S.
Tentative List in 2016 for nomination to the World Heritage List. It is also
known as the location of several annual events and festivals including the
Historic Turkey Trot 5K, Musikfest and Celtic Classic.
The Broad Street Bridge is a
concrete arch bridge over Monocacy Creek on Broad Street. Open to traffic, it
is a closed-spandrel arch bridge built in 1909.
The Hill to Hill Bridge is a road
crossing of the Lehigh River linking the south and north sides of Bethlehem.
Completed in 1924, the bridge carries Pennsylvania Route 378 from Wyandotte
Street on the city’s south side to a series of ramps and viaducts on the north
side. It replaced a two-lane covered bridge and eliminated several grade crossings
of three railroads on the two banks of the Lehigh River. It is located in the
Central Bethlehem Historic District, listed on the National Register of
Historic Places in 1972, with a Boundary Increase in 1988.
