FEBRUARY 2023 · WATERLINE
A walk under the bridges, Avon Gorge, Bristol
Clifton, Bristol
The Clifton Suspension Bridge is visible from most of Clifton. It's the object everyone photographs, usually from a distance, usually from above. This walk was the foreshore at low tide, which puts you underneath it.
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At low tide the Avon retreats far enough to expose the foreshore rock — dark stone, irregular, the tidal mark visible. The gorge walls come down to it. Someone has been painting the gorge rocks for years in bright blue graffiti, large scale, the colour shocking against the ochre-grey stone. It's not tagging — the scale and permanence of it suggests intention. The blue is very blue.
The reflection more atmospheric than the thing itself — the image inverts and blurs slightly.
Avon Gorge — February 2023
The bridge from below is a presence rather than a view. The ironwork overhead, the chains, the deck. The underside reflected in still tidal water where the mud is wet enough to hold a reflection. Graffitied bridge structure reflected in the surface — the image inverts and blurs slightly, the reflection more atmospheric than the thing itself.
Looking back toward the city at low tide: Bristol reflected in the still river, the colourful buildings along the waterfront doubled in the water. Not a dramatic image — just the city and its own reflection, flat light, the scale compressed.
The bridge is always overhead. You don't have to look up to know it's there.
Gorge rocks painted with bright blue graffiti along pathway near Clifton Suspension Bridge
Graffitied bridge underside reflected in tidal water at Avon Gorge foreshore
Bristol cityscape with colorful buildings reflected in still river water at low tide
Bright blue painted rock face on gorge hillside with footpath beyond