1977 | Hoover Dam, View SE into Black Canyon
I’m surprised that this picture is from the 1970’s; it looks more like what I was working on after the turn of the millenium. That’s the beauty of photography; it’s intuitive for me, so I can take good pictures with minimum fuss and then find a fuller sense in them as I mature.
But this is the vintage view, historical, in fact — the new high-flying bridge across the canyon has deeply eroded the spectacle of the dam itself. The bridge is dramatically high, and in spite of its spidery look, it’s the most imposing structure in Black Canyon, diminishing the dam’s great sculpture and Art Deco details.
I miss the old days, when the dam was the centerpiece of water management in the Southwest. From the roadway crossing the dam’s top, I remember looking down to the tiny ant-sized people visiting the transformer deck, over five hundred feet below. Later that afternoon, I rode down the elevators through the interior, walked out on that same deck, and gazed back up at other ants along the crest, looking down at me.