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Here's
the story behind the photo
of new high bridge to Jekyll Island
By Jim Morrison
Reprinted from The Golden Islander
(Editor's Note: The beautiful photo accompanying
this article drew such comment when published in the Forum that
we thought our readers might like to know more about it. This story
first appeared in The Golden Islander of Jekyll Island. --eeb)
JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga. -- Construction crane operator Billy Mitchell's
untitled photograph of the new Sydney Lanier Bridge, Georgia's tallest,
will never be matched by
another photographer.
Why?
Glenna Blomer of Galeria-At-The-Port in downtown Brunswick quickly
points out the reasons: "This is a collectible print because:
1) The old bridge is still there; 2) It was made from a crane; and
3) It's the only time the bridge looked like it was floating on
a cloud. He was the only one who had the opportunity.
"It was made from 568 feet in the air. He worked on the bridge
for three years as a crane operator. He's not a professional photographer.
He shot a whole role of film in 12 minutes. This was the best print."
Blomer is excited about the reaction to the newly released photograph.
"A lot of attorneys, doctors, and professional people are framing
it for their offices. It costs $35 a print, $42 mounted, and $150
framed with a golden wooden fillet. We won't make anything off it,
but I hope that it will be good publicity for our shop. We put the
story of how the photograph was made in a pocket on the back of
the frame."
The new Brunswick bridge is even higher than the spectacular Talmadge
Memorial Bridge at Savannah which connects Georgia and South Carolina.
The bridges are similar in design, except that a decision has yet
to be made about putting lights on the new bridge similar to the
ones in Savannah. Environmentalists fear that they might attract
nesting sea turtles or their young by confusing them as to the direction
back out to sea.
Exactly when the new bridge will be finished is an open question.
Originally scheduled to be finished last year, the expected completion
date has now been pushed back to late summer of this year. The construction
company is paying a substantial fine to the State for each day that
the bridge remains unfinished.
Current plans are to take most of the demolished bridge offshore
to create habitat for fish, while part of the old span would be
used for a fishing pier in conjunction with a new city park on the
Brunswick side.
The bridge is named for Georgia's most famous poet, former Confederate
soldier Sidney Lanier, who wrote his famed poem, "The Marshes
of Glynn," while recuperating from tuberculosis in Brunswick.
According to local legend, he composed some of the poem while sitting
under a live oak on the edge of the marsh that is now a part of
a city park there.
Lanier's other most famous poem is "The Song of the Chattahoochee"
which follows the river from its origins as a small mountain stream
flowing past Atlanta to eventually join the Gulf of Mexico.
Galeria-at-the-Port's phone number is 912-280-9777 or at email
gfmm@hotmail.com.
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Number
2.17, June 7, 2002
