Historic Bay Bridge Construction Documented by Acclaimed Photographer A. Aubrey Bodine

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge stands as a monumental engineering achievement connecting Maryland's eastern and western shores, and its construction was immortalized through the artistic vision of photographer A. Aubrey Bodine. The bridge represents the largest continuous entirely-over-water steel structure in the world, spanning 4.35 miles from Sandy Point to Kent Island with the entire project extending 7.727 miles including approach roads.

Construction of this massive infrastructure project required approximately 6,500,000 man hours of labor and 60,000 tons of steel. Work commenced on November 3, 1949, and the bridge opened to traffic on July 30, 1952, at a cost of about $45,000,000, funded through toll collections from this and other state bridges. The bridge's graceful, sweeping curve was designed to comply with regulations established by the Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, while also landing the structure on favorable terrain.

The historical significance of this construction project is preserved through the photographic work of A. Aubrey Bodine, who documented the bridge's creation as part of his series on the bay bridge construction. Bodine, regarded in photographic circles worldwide as one of the finest pictorialists of the twentieth century, began his career in 1923 covering stories for the Baltimore Sunday Sun. His documentary work consistently exceeded newspaper standards through artistic design and lighting effects.

Bodine's approach to photography was revolutionary for his time. He believed photography could be a creative discipline and studied art principles at the Maryland Institute College of Art. He viewed his camera and darkroom equipment as tools comparable to a painter's brush or sculptor's chisel. His craftsmanship involved extensive experimentation, including composing images directly in the camera viewfinder, working on negatives with dyes and intensifiers, pencil marking, scraping, and photographically adding clouds to achieve his desired artistic effects.

The photographer's rationale for these technical manipulations reflected his artistic philosophy: like a painter working from a model, he selected features that suited his sense of mood, proportion and design. As Bodine famously stated, he didn't take pictures—he made pictures. His work earned top honors in national and international salon competitions and was exhibited in hundreds of prestigious shows and museums.

Today, Bodine's legacy continues through the availability of his photographic archive. More than 6,000 photographs spanning his 47-year career are accessible for viewing at https://www.aaubreybodine.com. The full text of his biography, A Legend In His Time, written by his editor and closest friend Harold A. Williams shortly after Bodine's death, is also available on the website. For those interested in his Bay Bridge construction series, specific images like Building the Bay Bridge (1950) can be ordered using image ID# 49-018 through the website at https://www.aaubreybodine.com.

This documentation matters because it preserves both an important engineering achievement and demonstrates how photography can transcend mere documentation to become artistic expression. Bodine's work provides historical insight into mid-20th century infrastructure development while showcasing the creative potential of photographic media. The availability of these images through https://www.aaubreybodine.com ensures that future generations can appreciate both the engineering marvel of the Bay Bridge and the artistic vision that captured its creation.