The Bridge, 1989

Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto (1990) Private Collection, Toronto

“This image relates to the bridge across the Salmonier River on the downstream boundry of our property. The bridge links the Salmonier Line with the St. Mary’s Road, and crosses the river exactly where it (the river) enters the estuary at the tide-head of St. Mary’s Bay. So the bridge (which is known locally as “Hurley’s Bridge” after a family of Irish extraction who lived nearby) is a true gateway to St. Mary’s Bay. The depiction of the bridge itself is accurate, but the rest of the image is not. What you see through and beyond the bridge has more to do with other, life-long associations I have with this environment. In its formal aspect, the print relates to some of the night images I have done - “Night Trestle”, “Night on the Verandah”, “Winter Moon” and “Night on the River”. But it is not a night image. I saw it as a high tide on December 21st, the Winter Solstice, the darkest, shortest day; and I saw it looking upstream in some lights, and downstream in others...” “I leaned upon a coppice gate when frost was spectre grey...” -Thomas Hardy -Christopher Pratt, Oct. 1989-Jan. 1990